CSUN Celebrates Healthy Lifestyles, Eating Habits

Surrounded by tables covered with cookies, chips and soda, sophomore Jennifer Barajas waited patiently in line for a massage in the student union of Cal State Northridge.

This may not be the typical scene at most college campuses, but this was not a typical day for CSUN, which kicked off its fourth annual eating disorder awareness week Monday.

The “Mind, Body & Spirit Celebration Week,” organized by the peer education group Joint Advocates on Disordered Eating (JADE), is an effort to provide the student body with options for dealing with eating disorders and “to gain a sense of perspective about healthy lifestyle choices,” said Ellen Mayer, JADE coordinator.

“We want people to really celebrate who they are as they are,” she said.

Tables with food and information on nutritious diets, improving self-esteem and stress relief packed the Grand Salon auditorium, where a continuous stream of students filtered in and out.

Free facials, henna tattoos and back massages were being offered, as well as advice from professional counselors.

“I think it’s beneficial to everybody to have a place where you can get questions answered about eating disorders,” Barajas said. “A lot of people feel like they’re alone with their disorders, and I think this brings it out into the open.”

Comedian Maria Bamford made an appearance Monday, and along with a series of jokes, she told of her own struggles with the eating disorder bulimia.

“I don’t think I would be here today if I hadn’t asked for help,” Bamford said.

Approximately 35% of CSUN students have disordered eating behaviors, including compulsive overeating, bingeing and dieting, according to a survey conducted last year by JADE, Mayer said. Of those students, 10% suffer from full-blown eating disorders.

For information on the week of events, call (818) 677-2366.