The Pioneer surveyed students about stress, coping behaviors, food and body image as part of the research process for our article on eating disorders. One hundred ninety-two students responded (almost double the typical Pioneer survey response rate). As almost 80 percent of respondents were female, the sample size cannot be representative of the Whitman student body, which is approximately 60 percent female. In addition, given the high percentage of students who reported eating-disordered and other self-harming behavior, it’s likely that people who chose to take the survey were a self-selecting population who were more likely to have experience with these issues than the average Whitman student. As such, we feel that it would be misleading to present the survey results in the print version of the paper without contextualization their methodological limitations. That said, incomplete as they are, the survey results present an interesting portrait of relationships with food and body at Whitman. We present them here.
[easychart type=”pie” title=”Have you ever dieted or made lifestyle changes to lose weight?” groupnames=”Yes: specific diet,Yes: no specific diet,Wanted to; didn’t pursue,No” valuenames=”Response Count” group1values=”24″ group2values=”111″ group3values=”18″ group4values=”38″]
[easychart type=”horizbar” width=”600″ title=”Which of the following have you done to lose weight?” groupnames=”Gone vegetarian or vegan,Cut a specific food or group of foods out of your diet,Exercised regularly,Exercised obsessively or excessively,Skipped meals,Restricted caloric intake” valuenames=”Response Count” group1values=”31″ group2values=”52″ group3values=”124″ group4values=”38″ group5values=”74″ group6values=”104″]
[easychart type=”horizbar” width=”600″ title=”Have you done any of the following because you felt pressure to do them?” groupnames=”Gone vegetarian or vegan,Cut a specific food or group of foods out of your diet,Exercised regularly,Exercised obsessively or excessively,Skipped meals,Restricted calorie intake” valuenames=”Response Count” group1values=”22″ group2values=”22″ group3values=”61″ group4values=”16″ group5values=”24″ group6values=”50″]
[easychart type=”horizbar” width=”600″ title=”Have you done any of the following to gain more control over your life?” groupnames=”Gone vegetarian or vegan,Cut a specific food or group of foods out of your diet,Exercised regularly,Exercised obsessively or excessively,Skipped meals,Restricted calorie intake” valuenames=”Response Count” group1values=”32″ group2values=”31″ group3values=”89″ group4values=”30″ group5values=”50″ group6values=”61″]
[easychart type=”horizbar” width=”600″ title=”While at Whitman, have you done the following to deal with stress or other problems?” groupnames=”Binge drinking,Cutting or self-injury,Intensive exercise,Eating disordered behavior,Promiscuous sexual activity” valuenames=”Response Count” group1values=”55″ group2values=”15″ group3values=”35″ group4values=”44″ group5values=”28″]
[easychart type=”horizbar” width=”600″ title=”In your lifetime, have you done any of the following to deal with stress or other problems?” groupnames=”Binge drinking,Cutting or self-injury,Intensive exercise,Eating disordered behavior,Promiscuous sexual activity” valuenames=”Response Count” group1values=”51″ group2values=”31″ group3values=”55″ group4values=”59″ group5values=”29″]
[easychart type=”vertbarstack” title=”What pressures have you experience from the following people or communities?” width=”400″ groupnames=”Pressure to be thin,Pressure to lose weight,Pressure to dress a certain way,Pressure to be ‘perfect’,Pressure to be accomplished,Pressure to be involved in many activities,Pressure to exercise regularly,Pressure to eat less,Pressure to eat healthy,Pressure to make good food choices,None of these” Group1values=”42,52,19,36,0,56,101″ group2values=”36,32,14,21,0,38,80″ group3values=”26,50,23,45,5,57,70″ Group4values=”53,32,19,45,9,50,61″ group5values=”93,65,40,85,10,65,49″ group6values=”52,62,40,87,8,49,31″ Group7values=”63,56,33,63,0,38,49″ group8values=”27,28,21,15,0,32,64″ group9values=”87,51,46,71,5,44,35″ Group10values=”53,60,52,87,4,38,22″ group11values=”7,9,13,5,47,18,6″ valuenames=”Family,Peer group,Close friends,Whitman community,My religion,My culture,Pop culture”]
Do you have a healthy relationship with food and eating?
I worry about food more than I should.
As I learned about the politics of food, I let that entangle with self-image issues and body image issues, which resulted in an unhealthy relationship with food. I am learning to cope with this.
I should eat more vegetables.
No. I have been dealing with an eating disorder since high school. I am better at eating healthily, but my eating disorder mentality is still there.
I’ve gotten better at stocking up on fruits/veggies when I know I’m going to be stressed and compelled to eat a lot more than I should.
It could be better: I have one of the worst metabolisms ever, and unfortunately I also have an ongoing love affair with carbs.
I realize that food is sacred and I try as best I can to enjoy it, which in turn, I believe, leads to healthier eating habits.
I feel that it plays a larger part in my life (in a negative way) than I would like it to.
I think it’s always a work in progress. I’m pretty good but there’s still some work to do.
I wish I could think about food less. Food somehow filters into all of my thoughts.
No. After a boyfriend broke up with me, I was so sad I couldn’t eat. I lost a lot of weight, and everyone: friends, family, people I hadn’t seen: told me I looked great. So after that, I continued eating very little. Now I only eat one meal a day. While I don’t look starving, I definitely have no energy; sometimes I get winded walking up the stairs. But every time I go home over the holidays, people compliment me, so I continue restricting my diet.
I try to think about food as fuel for my body rather than an antagonistic force, but it is really hard.
Do you have a healthy relationship with your body and self-image?
A bit of a rollercoaster here. Some days I love my body, some days I hate how it looks. In general, I know my body can do awesome things, but I definitely think I could look better. To answer the specific question, not so much.
I am actually trying to gain weight. I am a skinny guy, it is hard, and in the past I have felt very bad for being so skinny it seems I am underweight.
I’m pretty proud of my body and what it’s capable of doing. There are certain things I wish were different, but most of those changes would be practical to make it easier to do certain physical activities (increased flexibility, smaller chest size etc.)
No, I never have loved my body.
I’m not fully content, but that leaves me something to strive for.
I was an elite athlete in high school, and 4 years after I came to Whitman and stopped training, my body has changed a lot. I’d be happier if I could drop about 30 pounds and go back to the athletic style life.
I think I have grown into a healthy relationship with my body.
I still have parts of my body I don’t like to see, but according to others, that’s normal. However, I don’t think disliking your body is normal; I think we’re encouraged to dislike our bodies and so it’s acceptable to think parts of you are ugly. I think it’s despicable.
For the most part, I think I do have a healthy relationship with my body. It’s often accompanied by guilt (I didn’t do any exercise, I drank too much, etc.) but generally speaking, I’m proud of my body and what it can do.
I cognitively know that it is unrealistic to compare myself to Hollywood actresses or porn stars, but that is such a part of our culture that I know they are the standard that I am being held to by others, as well as myself.
It has been harder to maintain a healthy body image since I’ve come to Whitman. I still think I’m pretty but I have a harder time seeing my body as nice or what it should be. I think it’s partly because I don’t have a boyfriend anymore who is always complimenting me often (and I hate to think I relied on him for confidence), and also it is hard to see such active people who exercise everyday and look awesome.
I still struggle with feeling like I’m losing a battle (even though I’m on the high end of a normal weight/just barely overweight). I often compare myself to other girls physically, thinking “If only I was thin like X then I’d be happy.”
I definitely wouldn’t describe my body relationship as healthy just because I abuse it so much with the extremes I make it go through: we’re talking everything from studying stress and sleep deprivation to excessive drinking to the use of drugs like molly and adderall. My physical state definitely has a lot demanded of it in the name of my mental self having fun or achieving at school.
There are always times I wish I was skinnier but I don’t let it take over my life and I’m happy with myself
Yes; not perfect, but comfortable. It’s a nice place to be.
I know there have to be consequences for having such a shitty diet, but I’m young so I still feel relatively good. I know if I gained weight, though, I would start feeling horrible about myself.
I like the way I look, but I like controlling the way I look.
