Iowa State recognized the nationwide problem of eating disorders this past week, and the concerns that surround the issue still unsettle some university activists.

National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, which ends Saturday, sought to educate the public about the dangers of eating disorders, but ISU counselors and administrators deal with the problem every day.

Dieting may seem harmless, but more than 50 percent of people with eating disorders pinpoint dieting as the first sign of a disorder, said Brooks Morse, coordinator of the Student Counseling Service’s eating disorders program.

Nearly half of the ISU female population can be defined as dieting, according to the Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention Web page. This prevalence of dieting combined with the low-success rates of most restrictive diets can cause a feeling of failure among college students, Morse said.

“Dieting is the biggest contributing trigger to developing an eating disorder because it begins the restriction-binge-purge cycle that often develops,” she said.

Rather than focusing on health, some students focus on weight loss, which leads to an obsession with calories, fat grams, body mass index and clothing sizes, Morse said.

“The culture that places such a huge emphasis on thinness and restrictive eating as a moral issue influences college students,” she said.

Counselors at the Student Counseling Service, located in the basement of Pearson Hall, use a biopsychosocial model to explain eating disorders. This means that biology, psychology (personality, family environment and other mood disorders) and social-cultural setting all contribute to a person’s developing an eating disorder, Morse said.

“College-age people are placed in a semi-enclosed environment in which they have to adjust to a lot of changes, including body changes, leaving family and friends and facing difficult classes,” she said.

The number of students seeking assistance is increasing, said Paulette Stronczek, coordinator of outreach and consultation services at Student Counseling Services.

“I am not sure if the number of eating disorders is increasing, awareness is on the rise or it’s an increased comfort of seeking counseling, but something is causing a rise in numbers,” she said.

In an addition to an increase in students coming for counseling, the reported number of anorexia cases has increased, Morse said.

“I have seen a recent rise in anorexia and excessive exercising from the last place I worked to here,” she said. “[Eating disorder] groups used to be more bulimia, but now it is 50/50 between bulimia and anorexia, clinically.”

Anorexia, bulimia and binge eating are the most common eating disorders among college students, Morse said.

“I have been seeing more students who restrict their eating and compulsively exercise than before,” she said.

Today, 10 percent of individuals seeking the attention of mental health professionals are male, according to the EDAP Web page. Stronczek said she has noticed an increase in awareness regarding eating disorders among men.

“It is becoming more of an awareness with men because we are hearing things such as men on wrestling teams doing extreme things to lose weight,” she said. “If women were doing the same thing, their behavior would be considered bulimia.”

Men who struggle with weight related to athletics usually do not end up in college counseling but in a drug rehabilitation program due to steroid use, Stronczek said.

“There certainly are men who come in with eating problems, but it is more of body images with men,” she said.

Student Counseling Services’ eating disorder program includes eating disorder assessments, individual therapy, groups and/or educational workshops, Morse said.

“The assessment helps us and the person get a handle on what’s going on for them, the severity of the eating disorder and what would be the best treatment plan,” Stronczek said.

The Student Health Center does eating disorder physicals and labs, and the Wellness Center provides free-nutritional counseling, Morse said.

If students prefer community therapy, the Richmond Center and McFarland Clinic also have clinicians who work with eating disorders. Also, the Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines has an intense outpatient eating disorders unit, she said.