The Nevada Sagebrush

Amid a plague of disorders hitting college students in America, a new study on campus is seeking participants to learn the effects of stress on eating habits.

Annie Haynos, the lead researcher on the project at the University of Nevada, Reno, said eating disorders — which are among the most common psychological problems in the United States — are particularly prevalent with college students.

College is a time when many people develop lifelong habits, including eating habits, said Haynos, a doctoral student in clinical psychology.

In addition to problems such as anorexia, rates of binge eating are especially high among young people and may be perpetuated by high stress rates in students, she said. Traditionally, binge eating was viewed as the result of bad habits developed from poorly managed eating, but research has shown that may not be entirely true.

“More and more, people have started looking at stress and what role that plays,” Haynos said.

Binge eating is manageable if the cause of the stress is found and dealt with, she said.

“We see so many people coming into the counseling center dealing with some kind of stress,” said Haynos, who also works as a counselor at UNR. “College students have a lot of stress, not just academic stress. They’re navigating relationships, interacting with parents and plenty of others.”

Many students, especially men, don’t get treatment for eating disorders because of the stigma surrounding the problem, Rebecca Chaliman, a psychologist at UNR’s Counseling Center, said. About 25 percent of people diagnosed with binge eating are men.

“But it may be higher in men because it’s not as acceptable for men to struggle with this problem,” she said.

Our “body image-focused society” contributes to a lack of self-acceptance and an increase in eating disorders, Chaliman said. Studies show 80 percent of women are not content with their bodies, and 90 percent of women try to change their appearance through dieting, she said.

If eating habits begin to affect grades, students should seek help, Chaliman said.

“There are a lot of warning signs but it’s when it really begins to impact their lives that they need help,” she said. “If they find they can’t concentrate because they are thinking about food, it’s a problem.”

Jay Balagna and Don Weinland can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com.

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