Black Undergraduate And White Undergraduate Eating Disorders And Related Attitudes - Black Females Physical Self-Confidence

Written by Linda Nielsen

Self Esteem and Relationships

Contrary to what we might assume, the students with eating disorders rated themselves only slightly lower on self esteem than students without disorders. When asked to rate their self-esteem on a 1 to 10 point scale, the students with eating disorders generally gave themselves a 7, while the other students generally gave themselves an 8. Likewise, having an eating disorder was not related to the quality of relationships that these students had with their roommates. More than 85% said they had a very good relationship with their roommate. On the other hand, when it comes to boyfriends, there were striking differences. Only 25% of the women with eating disorders had a boyfriend, compared to 75% of the other women.

The good news is that the anorexic daughters said they got along very well with both their mothers and their fathers. Indeed, the students who said their relationships with their parents were terrible were the daughters who had never had an eating disorder. Nearly 82% of the white daughters with eating disorders said their relationship with both parents was excellent. Only one of the daughters with an eating disorder said her relationship with her mother was terrible and only one said the same of her father. In contrast, 10% of the white daughters who had never had an eating disorder said their relationship with their father was either terrible or very poor, and 2% said the same about their mother.

Divorce

In stark contrast to most people their age nationwide, only 15% of the white students and only 25% of the black students in this study had parents who were divorced. Not only was divorce not connected to the daughter having an eating disorder, just the opposite seemed to be the case. That is, only 3% of the white parents whose daughters had eating disorders were divorced compared to 14% whose daughters never had an eating disorder. Likewise, 85% of the black daughters whose parents were divorced had never had an eating disorder. If anything, these results suggest that her parent's divorce has almost nothing to do with whether or not a daughter develops an eating disorder. In fact, on the basis of these results we might actually wonder: Are some couples who stay married even though they aren't happy together creating situations in the family that increase the odds of their daughter developing an eating disorder? For example, even though the parents aren't divorced, one or both of them might be sending negative messages to the daughter about sexuality, about male-female relationships, or about growing up and leaving the "poor, unhappy" parent behind. Or even though they aren't divorced, either parent can be discouraging their daughter from developing an assertive "voice" of her own and from taking charge of creating a life separate from them - all of which have been linked to eating disorders. Given this, other researchers exploring eating disorders might gain much more useful information not by asking whether the parents are divorced, but by having them use a 1-10 rating scale for such questions as: How happy do you think each of your parent's is? How much have your parents encouraged you to express your anger openly and directly to them? How comfortable do you think each of your parents is about your growing up and leaving home?

Implications for College Personnel

So what are the practical implications of this study for people who teach or work with college students? First, a large percentage of both black and white college women need help combating eating disorders. Clearly the problem is prevalent enough and begins so early that high school teachers as well as parents need to be particularly vigilant of teenage girls' eating habits and attitudes about body weight. Second, we must stop acting as if eating disorders only affect white females. Although white females are still the most at risk, black teenage girls also need to be carefully attended to in terms of educating them about eating disorders and paying careful attention when they seem to be developing habits or attitudes that can lead to anorexia or bulimia. This may be especially true for college-bound black teenagers since they are the most likely to be exposed to unhealthy white attitudes about women's weight and dieting. Third, black females may be the most reluctant to seek professional help when they have eating disorders or other types of problems that might lead to anorexia or bulimia. Knowing this, teachers, counselors, and parents could make more effort to discuss the importance of getting professional help for any type of ongoing emotional or physical problem. Given the influence of the church in many black families' lives - especially black women's lives - campus and community ministers could also speak more about the wisdom of seeking professional help for personal problems. In so doing, women and their daughters might be less likely to feel that getting the help of a therapist is somehow a sign of weakness or a matter of "having too little faith". With such efforts, more black girls might grow into adulthood seeing that being "strong" or "religious" does not mean avoiding professional help for ongoing or life threatening problems such as anorexia and depression.

Fourth, since so few of these anorexic college women had boyfriends, perhaps working with them on issues related to sexuality and emotional intimacy with men might indirectly have a positive impact. That is, one of the reasons why so many of these young women don't have boyfriends may be that they feel too uncomfortable with their own sexuality. As mentioned earlier, young anorexic women may not have received enough positive messages or seen enough healthy examples of adults who are comfortable with sexuality and who have an emotionally intimate relationship with one another. These young women might also be so worried that a boyfriend would discover their eating disorder that they will not risk emotional or sexual intimacy. On the other hand, these girls may want a boyfriend but lack the skills and attitudes of other girls their age that would enable them to form a close relationship with a man. Unfortunately by not having a boyfriend, the young woman might be depriving herself of someone who can reassure her that her gaining weight is sexy and desirable - someone who actively encourages her to change her dangerous eating habits. In any event, college personnel could devote more time helping anorexic students develop more emotionally intimate relationships and become more comfortable with their own sexuality.

Finally, on college campuses we must continue to educate young men and woman about the dangers of eating disorders, intensive dieting, and our pervasive obsession with thinness. Our efforts must also be directed just as much at young men as at young women. For example, brochures about eating disorders should be disseminated to male students and should be designed in ways that help men understand the nature, extent and seriousness of the problem. Moreover, we should be giving all college men very specific advice about what to do if they suspect a female friend or a girlfriend of having an eating disorder. Without being critical or demeaning, we should also explain to college men the ways in which their comments or their behavior might inadvertently be contributing to eating disorders. For example, we might help them understand that their "jokes" or casual comments about "fat" girls or a woman's "big thighs" can contribute to the insecurity and self-loathing that their own sisters, girlfriends, and female friends feel about their weight. Materials or presentations should be shared especially with those groups of men who often have the most influence on campus - fraternity members and athletes - as well as with all first year students during orientation. University counseling and health centers should also see to it that all faculty members receive this information and specific advice so that they know what to do when they suspect that a student is suffering from or might be developing an eating disorder. Along the same lines, whenever possible, faculty should be encouraged to incorporate information about eating disorders, our society's obsession with thinness, and intensive dieting into their course materials, their tests, their class discussion and their assignments. Aside from the obvious courses in psychology, sociology, and biological sciences, the information could also be incorporated into education, history, mass communications, and art courses where topics such as female beauty, the impact of advertising, and cultural differences are all relevant. With more concerted efforts such as these in high schools and on college campuses, we will hopefully see a decrease in eating disorders, excessive dieting, and our widespread obsession with female thinness.

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