When we decided to devote a week on CollegeCandy to eating disorder awareness, we wanted to get some facts and statistics from the experts. We reached out to the people who study and know these diseases best, and in doing so, met Stacey, a survivor who is using her rough past to help others. We immediately fell in love with both this woman and her message and wanted to introduce her to you.

Here is Stacey’s story:

Don’t get me wrong, I love guys (I mean I LOVE guys), but what if the story had been different?  What if Adam had emerged from Eve’s rib instead of vice-versa?  Would we be living in an entirely different world?  Would a woman’s success be gauged monetarily and a man’s physically?  Would aggressiveness be seen as a feminine quality and submissiveness as masculine?  Would women eat whatever they wanted while men counted every one tenth of a calorie?  I have no idea, but I asked this five years ago when starting EvesRib.com, a company that promotes positive body image and self-esteem in girls and women through fashion, while donating a portion of our proceeds to the National Eating Disorders Association.  However, this was not the only thing that led to The Creation of Eve’s Rib.

I used to miss school because I was too ugly, miss parties because I was too fat, and miss life because I was too [insert any and all negative adjectives here.]  It was assumed that I would grow out of this after high school, but things only got worse.   While having a blast on the outside—seriously, an All-American, collegiate blast—I perfected the art of self-hatred on the inside, and no one was the wiser; sometimes not even myself. Read More »

As you may know, February is the month of Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

So, while the media continues to target body conscious young females, it’s important to keep in mind that eating disorders are an illness which have severe physical and emotional side effects. In our attempt to raise awareness we’re looking at the facts surrounding the illness that affects so many girls and women globally.

• It is estimated that 1 in 5 women struggle with an eating disorder of some kind, whether it is anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, or somewhere in between.
• 10% of female college students suffer with eating disorders or disordered eating, of which, over half struggle with bulimia nervosa.
• 10-15% of people with anorexia or bulimia are males. And those are just the ones that have actually admitted they struggle with an eating disorder, as it has a reputation to be a disease that only effects women. In fact, there are thousands of males that struggle in secrecy every day.
• 80% of 13 year old girls have attempted to lose weight.
• A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5 – 10% of people with anorexia die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% will be dead after 20 years and only 30 – 40% ever fully recover.
• Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness.

Read More »