On Saturday, I attended a presentation sponsored by the Student Counseling Services as part of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, where former Olympic champion Tiffany Cohen talked about her seven-year struggle with bulimia.

Cohen was part of the 1984 Olympics as a swimmer and set an American record in the 400- meter freestyle, just .33 seconds short of a world record. After struggling with bulimia as a response to pressures in her personal and athletic life, she said she was prompted to begin speaking out about eating disorders after she saw an article about another female athlete who died from anorexia nervosa and weighed only 56 pounds at the time of her death.

Cohen is fighting a cause that desperately needs to be addressed. Eating disorders arise from multiple psychological, interpersonal, genetic and social conditions — and they are a widespread problem in America. One out of every 10 college-aged women suffers from some kind of disordered eating. Up to 10 million women in America suffer from eating disorders, as well as more than a million men and boys.

The average direct medical costs for treating eating disorder patients in America is between $5 and $6 billion dollars a year, which makes eating disorders more expensive to treat than schizophrenia. Anorexia nervosa has the highest premature mortality rate above any other psychiatric disorder.

But among the various causes for her disorder, which included a dysfunctional family and low self-esteem, Cohen said the media and our culture contributed to her bulimia.

She said she was heavily influenced by coaches and teachers who tell her some foods were “good” and some were “bad.” Cohen says this kind of moralizing— when it comes to health and body image— are the catalysts for disordered eating, and she is absolutely right.

What Cohen has to say about this is important, because we are currently awash in a flurry of new rhetoric concerning low carbohydrate diets, especially the “Atkins diet.” You’ve probably seen the Subway commercials advertising their new low-carb sandwiches. What we’re so accustomed to — and seem to accept subconsciously — are the powerful subliminal messages contained within those commercials and everywhere else in the media.

Notice how frequently these new commercials use those two words, “bad” and “good” in reference to food. They also throw out examples of outrageously “bad” behavior, claiming Subway is “good” for you, so you don’t always have to “be good.”

They are trying to make you feel better about eating at their restaurant while simultaneously labeling eating high-carbohydrate meals as bad behavior. The truth is, there is no real “bad” food in moderation.

It would be irresponsible to blame Subway for causing eating disorders in women through their new commercials.

However, Subway and other companies are reinforcing people’s misconceptions about dieting and weight loss through these new marketing strategies.

Yeah, so what if they say something is bad? Well, the problem arises when somebody with low self-esteem sees these commercials and others like them several times a day, every day. An outside authority is reinforcing their already negative self body image, and making somebody’s eating habits and body type a matter of morality.

By making it a matter of right and wrong, this rhetoric increases the shame already felt by people with low self-esteem and can contribute to disordered eating.

It is not easy to point one finger of blame at the cause of eating disorders, because eating disorders are complicated by nature.

Some people do it to feel better about themselves, some do it for attention and acceptance, others do it as a response to pressure or stress, and some think they can control painful emotions by strictly controlling their diet. The ultimate result is increased stress, irritability and depression.

The truth is, the only “diet” that has proven effective is a balanced, healthy one.

These new Atkins advertisements are just the ploys of a few companies to sell more products, so try not to invest your self-esteem into their claims.

Diets are more conducive to gaining weight rather than losing weight in the long run, and bouncing up and down with weight is more harmful than being overweight in the first place.

Eating disorders are treatable, but intervention may be necessary on the part of friends and family. Iowa State’s Student Counseling Services has an excellent comprehensive program for assessing and treating disorders.

But as long as our rhetoric concerning the shape of our bodies and our eating habits is one of right and wrong, sexy or ugly, we will continue to be plagued by eating disorders.