For most, the term “food fight” usually provokes no more than a playful image of rowdy middle schoolers flinging their mediocre school lunches across the cafeteria. However, for University of Southern California senior Natalie, the term “food fight” means something a little less lighthearted.

“I was constantly fighting with myself over eating. I knew I needed to, but I couldn’t because I was afraid of ruining what I saw as ‘progress.’” Natalie was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at the end of her freshman year and has been working towards recovery ever since.

“Freshman year of college started with a bang. Not an illuminating and beautiful firework bang, but more like a gunshot”, said Natalie. In her first month of college, Natalie had broken up with her longterm boyfriend, started drinking alcohol every weekend, and was already failing two of her four classes. The hardest part for her — she began to gain weight.

Upon returning home to Pennsylvania for winter break, she said that others consistently commented on her change in weight, including her family members and close friends. “I basically believed I was three things. I was failing, I was fat and I was weak.”

In an attempt to regain control, Natalie decided she was going to lose all the weight she gained by the time she returned for spring break in March. “My life began to revolve around food, what I had eaten, what I was currently eating and what I would eat next. I became obsessed with controlling every crumb that entered my mouth, and every step I took on the treadmill.” By March, Natalie had lost 19 pounds in just three and a half months, alarming her parents and prompting them to take her to a doctor.

“When I heard the words ‘depression’ and ‘anorexia nervosa,’ I thought it was a joke. There was no way. Not me. I would just start eating again and everything would get better. It took me months to realize that this is not how a disease functions.”

A case like Natalie’s is far from rare. According to the Collegiate Survey Project launched in 2013 by the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), the prevalence of eating disorders on college campuses has risen at an alarming rate in the past 13 years. From 1995 to 2008, the survey found the rate of eating disorders on one college campus to have increased from 7.9 percent to 10 percent for males and 23.4 percent to 32.6 percent for females.

The drastic rise has left students and parents alike wondering and worried what exactly it is about the modern college experience that allows eating disorders to affect such a large portion of students. Gwen Grabb, a Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in eating disorders, notes that it is not a simple question to answer.

“Certain factors associated with change and adaption load the gun. Fear of rejection, being overly perfectionistic, [and] newfound freedom, these all are factors that foster an environment where individuals with the right temperament can easily develop an eating disorder,” said Grabb. She also adds that although the types of eating disorders students develop are usually triggered by the same factors, biological factors and certain predispositions ultimately determine how students engage in harmful weight control techniques.

Grabb notes that people with anorexia suffer anxiety and anxiety or depression at the thought of eating, but feel calm while starving themselves. People with bulimia, on the other hand, find comfort and safety in eating, leading to binge eating, and later to purging. The pressures and stresses of college life, Grabb said, are often what bring out these anxious or depressed tendencies and leave students vulnerable to unhealthy mindsets.

No college student is completely stranger to a mid-day breakfast or eating dinner a little later than normal. However, while unhealthy eating habits have existed on campuses across America for decades, the 2013 study by NEDA has revealed that disordered eating is becoming less of a rarity and more a staple of students’ college years. “Unhealthy eating behaviors have become normalized in college, no one would think twice if I didn’t eat for two days,” said USC junior Kyle Raterman. “They would just think I’m really busy.”

According to USC campus psychologist Dr. Kelly Greco, terms like “the freshman 15” push the common idea that the average freshman is destined to gain around 15 pounds in their first year, unless they rigorously monitor what they eat and drink. “Students arrive [at] college and the first thing they hear is that they should expect to gain weight. They begin to diet and restrict calories to avoid gaining weight, and this is when their lives begin to revolve around eating or lack thereof.”

While many young adults have escaped their freshman year diets unscathed, a 1995 study conducted by Dr. Catherine Shisslak and Dr. Marjorie Crago found 35 percent of “normal” dieters progress to pathological dieting, and nearly 25 percent of these progress to partial or full-syndrome eating disorders.

One of the more common diets practiced by college students has become well-known after a graduate from the University of Texas shared her personal experience with what she called “drunkorexia.” This lifestyle involves restricting calories throughout the day in order to drink heavily at night and still stay below one’s daily caloric ‘cap.’ Put simply, it is an effort to still have the infamous “college experience” and stay thin.

However, lead therapist Amy Ruffolo of Monte Nido Residential Eating Disorder Center in
Malibu, warns that this lifestyle could have serious health complications. “These behaviors seem to be more common and are extremely dangerous. Many scary consequence are present with these behaviors of restricting intake and drinking to get ‘drunker’. The young adults who do this are at risk to develop addiction to substances, eating disorders, and other serious medical problems.”

Although there are undeniable risk factors that come with college life, it does not automatically condemn students to four years of low self-esteem and disordered eating. Pepperdine University senior Paige Dobons, who struggled with bulimia the latter half of her high school years, has found profound support in her college friends and firmly believes that they have played a huge role in her ability to stay healthy throughout college.

“We’d always go out for pizza and we’d always have fun. Of course, there were times we would go get a salad, but it was never about counting calories, just about being together." Today, Paige is fully recovered from bulimia, but still understands how hard the journey can be. “With an eating disorder, you will feel so alone, even though you have so many people. It’s when you’re alone with your thoughts, that is when you’re pulled into that dark place.”

Because of students like Paige, who understand the loneliness that comes with these disorders, many colleges around the nation have implemented workshops and seminars that promote body acceptance and dietary education. Such programs, such as the Body Acceptance Movement at Kent State University and the Student Nutrition and Body Awareness Campaign at UCLA are run by fellow students and encourage community and companionship between those who may be at risk of developing or have already developed an eating disorder. They allow the students to share their struggles, fears and goals to help them realize they are not alone.

If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, please call the National Eating Disorders Association confidential Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. In a crisis situation, you may also text "NEDA" to 741741 to connect with a trained volunteer at their Crisis Text Line.