BELLA English's Jan. 19 article ("Fit to a fault on campuses" Page A1, ) reports on the recent phenomenon of over-exercising among students at local university fitness centers, a trend which all too often can lead to the development of full-blown eating disorders among vulnerable college-age individuals.
As a clinician specializing in the treatment of eating disorders and body disturbance, I was heartened to learn of the sensitivity on the part of university fitness staff to the dangers of obsessive workout regimens, since all too often the relentless marketing of the fitness industry has in fact contributed to a weight-obsessed culture which seeks to normalize pathological behavior such as compulsive exercising.
Here at Northeastern University, we have found that students reaching out to other students through our peer support and education program on campus are even more effective means of preventing such "self-controlling" body practices as excessive exercising and dieting from spiraling out of control.
EMILY FOX-KALES
Faculty Advisor
Northeastern University
Eating and Weight Concerns Project
Boston
