I am writing to applaud the recent articles and letters in The Observer on eating disorders. As coordinator of gender issues in the office of the student body president, I have dealt with this issue a lot recently. My partner Tim Hagerty and I want to assure the student body that the Student Government is aware of this problem on campus. Currently we are sending out surveys to dorms to collect much needed statistics on eating disorders at this University. Additionally, we are planning a healthy lifestyle seminar that targets nutrition, exercise, and mental health. We are compiling information on eating issues to be made available in the dorms. In the future, we hope to host a round table discussion addressing this issue.

As members of the Notre Dame community, the entire student body has specific responsibilities in relation to this issue. We need to support victims who are currently suffering from eating disorders. We need to encourage those who we suspect have problems to seek help. Most importantly, among our peers we must create a zero tolerance environment for obsessive talk about food, weight or exercise. It is unacceptable for students to be subject to dangerous and unhealthy comments such as: "I am so fat" and "I look like a whale." While we must be sensitive to the psyches of those suffering from eating disorders, we are each entitled to live and eat in an environment free of such self-defilement. Encourage yourself and your friends to adopt a more positive self-image. Be brave and let people know that it makes you uncomfortable to be subject to their self-degradation.

Please feel free to call Tim or myself in the student government office if this issue interests you and you would like to help.

Katie Koch

Sophomore

Cavanaugh Hall

October 4, 1999

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