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Eating & Body Image Concerns: An Overview

Many people suffer from eating and body image concerns. The media’s obsession with thinness and the cultural myth of the “perfectable body” perpetuate an unrealistic ideal that may encourage chronic dissatisfaction with your appearance. If eating and body image concerns are affecting your life, it’s not a sign of weakness to admit that you need help. On the contrary, by seeking help, you are empowering yourself to regain control of your life.

Research shows that eating and body image concerns affect women and men of all ages and backgrounds. Some of the warning signs for eating and body image concerns include:

Intrusive thoughts

• Constantly thinking about eating, weight, and body size
• Spending considerable amounts of time daydreaming about food
• Thinking that you never look good enough; being constantly critical of your appearance or the way your clothes fit

Anxiety

• Becoming anxious prior to eating or fearing that you might be unable to control how much you eat     
• Becoming terrified about gaining weight
• Experiencing anxiety about being fat that continues even as you lose weight
• Difficulty in recognizing physical hunger
• Obsessing over counting calories; feeling anxious when you’re eating out and can’t count the calories you consume

Compulsive behavior

• Going on eating binges or being unable to stop until you feel sick
• Weighing yourself several times a day
• Exercising too much or being overly rigid about your exercise plan
• Eating when you are nervous, angry, lonely, tired, or depressed, or using eating as the only way you allow yourself to take a break from work
• Placing yourself on severely restrictive diets (very low-calorie, very low-fat, fasting) or “demonizing” certain food groups
• Self-induced vomiting or abuse of laxatives, diet pills, diuretics, or enemas

Physical problems

• A marked increase or decrease in weight not related to a medical condition
• Unexplained problems with menstruation or fertility

How MIT Medical Can Help

If you want to make peace with food and your body or know someone who is suffering from food and body image concerns, MIT Medical offers a variety of resources and support. Health educators from the Center for Health Promotion & Wellness and clinicians from the Mental Health Service are available for consultations, referrals, urgent care, individual counseling, and group support. All conversations and visits are strictly confidential. For more information, please contact Audra Bartz or Zan Barry.

Audra Bartz, LICSW
Eating Disorders Care Manager
Mental Health Service
617-253-2916

Zan Barry, M.A.
Health Educator
Center for Health Promotion & Wellness
617-253-3646

Group Counseling: MIT Medical’s Mental Health Service at MIT Medical sponsors Making Peace with Food, a 10-week, educational group that explores factors that contribute to binge eating and unhealthy behaviors around managing stress and weight. The group provides a forum for discussion of body image, personal value and achievement, societal pressures around appearance and weight, and nutrition. Practical strategies to manage food intake and decrease preoccupation with food and body image are explored.

Information and Education

MIT Medical has a number of pamphlets and books that can help you better understand eating and body image concerns. These resources are available online (below) or free of charge at the Center for Health Promotion & Wellness, E23-205, on the second floor of MIT Medical. The Center’s multimedia library is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Nourish the mind/nourish the body: Emotional eating resources (PDF)
Setpoint theory (PDF)
Hunger scale (PDF)
Mindful eating log (PDF)
Compulsive exercise (PDF)

To learn more about eating and body image concerns, check out the following online resources:

National Eating Disorders Association: This web site offers audience-specific information about preventing, treating, and healing from the effects of eating disorders as well as resources you can use to gain access to professional care. You can also find information about helping a friend.

Something Fishy: This site provides resources for all types of food, body image, and compulsive exercise concerns including educational articles, personal recovery stories, message boards, and booklists.

Community Resources

If you want to seek help outside of MIT Medical, the following local organizations offer counseling and support:

Massachusetts Eating Disorders Association: Professionals are available for individual consultation, counseling, and group support. Call 617-558-1881.

Cambridge Eating Disorders Center: The center offers consultation, counseling (including nutritional counseling), and group support. Call 617-547-2255.