The hydrostatic weighing scale in Mill Hall evaluates body density by measuring the amount of water displaced when a person is submerged. A growing number of college women suffer from eating disorders, and studies say these women may be endangering their health in the pursuit of perfection. In college, there is enormous pressure to look good and the media tells us what good looks like. Related Eating Disorders Inc. Fitch attributes the rise of eating disorders in college students to the overwhelming pressure from peer groups and society's expectations for the perfect body. Fitch said eating disorders are especially common in underclassmen, who have been uprooted from their comfortable group of friends and forced to build new relationships, making them self conscious about their bodies.
College is really a developmental stage.
Teresa White, personal trainer and aquatics director at the Women's Club in Missoula, said the issue of body image and eating disorders may run deeper in college women than most think, sometimes starting in childhood. White said beauty expectations that stem from early adolescence and childhood play a huge role in the development of eating disorders. But the increased pressure college students face make them more likely to turn these unhealthy expectations into a full-blown eating disorder. But there are so many other things out there that figure in as well. Beyond looking a certain way, you have to be superwoman in everything.