“I look so fat.”

“I need to lose at least 15 pounds.”

“This diet is killing me.”

“I wish I was skinnier.”

All of these things have been heard echoing off the walls of the women’s bathrooms on college campus’ across the country.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, “Full-blown eating disorders typically begin between 18 and 21 years of age. The increased pressure and stress of school and leaving home may lead to mental health problems among college students and a greater need for campus services.” Anorexia nervosa leads the charts as having the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, and college-age women are impacted the most by negative body image.

One IU Sophomore decided to do something about this issue by joining The Body Project. Aspen Weyenberg first joined The Body Project after hearing about it through her sorority during freshman year. She went through training to learn how to console and support other college-aged women in the fight for body positivity.

The Body Project is a body acceptance intervention project sponsored by the National Eating Disorders Association that targets college women. Over 1 million college-aged women have participated in the project around the world and it has been shown to decrease rates of body dissatisfaction, unhealthy dieting, and eating disorders on college campus.

“I think social media has defiantly skewed our perception of body image,” says Weyenberg, “You just have to remember that all those pictures are probably touched up and just be confident in who you are. Post what you want to post.”

Weyenburg admits that The Body Project hits home with her, since she has also struggled with her own body confidence.

“In the past I’ve kind of struggled with seeing myself in a positive light. I think that for a lot of teenage girls it’s really hard. I think going through the workshops and being a director has opened my eyes to see there’s so much more than just what you look like.”

As a body image director, her job is to encouraging and relaying body positive messages to the girls in her chapter. Young women in Greek life participate in Body Project workshops lead by Weyenburg and other body image directors where they learn more about body image and how it is portrayed in society. While participating in the program, young women are given the chance to open up about their own struggles with body confidence and relate to other girls their age about the issues they face. The young women are given strategies on how to combat negative body comments they hear from peers or friends around them. They also learn signs of potential eating disorders and how to get help and support for those who are struggling. Weyenburg says that being a leader in the program has helped her realize that she has so much to be grateful for.

“Not everything is about necessarily looks, but more about the person that you are. People don’t point out your flaws I think you are really the one one that points out your flaws.”

For more information on The Body Project visit their website:

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/get-involved/the-body-project

https://www.bodyprojectcollaborative.com

Or contact Aspen Weyenberg:

Email: Aspweyen@iu.edu