By Sally Oakes Edman, Ph.D
Formal eating disorders present severe threats to the physical, psychological and social well-being of those affected. While fairly rare, eating disorders are overly represented among college students (anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents, and 95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25).
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, and we know there is a progression from media exposure to being dissatisfied with how one’s body looks, to dieting and then to increasingly pathological dieting. From there, 20-25 percent progress to develop eating disorders.
Next week is eating disorders awareness week. Take a few minutes to think about the messages you give to your self and your friends about body size and appearance. Tell someone you care about that they matter to you not because of their looks or their shape, but because they are funny, talented, caring, and made in the image of God.
By Meghan Schuster
Beauty has so many different meanings. To the media world, beauty is seen in a girl with a perfect, beautiful body. But that girl is usually edited by a computer to make the “beauty” completely fake.
Many people follow the media’s example and try to make themselves beautiful by that worldly standard. It doesn’t work. No one can be that beautiful because it’s not even real. And since it’s not real, it really isn’t beautiful at all.
I see beauty in all of God’s creation, and I especially see beauty in the people God creates. People are made in God’s image, and He is more beautiful than anything! He has handcrafted each individual to be absolutely glorious.
I have seen beauty in all mothers. There’s the beautiful mother with the glow on her face as her belly begins to grow with life inside it. There’s the beautiful mother with the tiny, beautiful baby in her arms. There’s the beautiful mother with three children wanting her attention. There’s the beautiful mother whose babies are all grown and is soon to be a grandmother.
I have seen beauty in the girls I met one summer in Arizona (and have met since then). They didn’t always see their own beauty, but it was there. They loved each other like sisters, and they always wanted to care for one another.
They built each other up and always pushed each other to try their hardest. They offered their support during those hard days that just seemed impossible to get through.
I have seen beauty in the girls on my wing in the dorm. Their faces glow with the love of Jesus, and they let their lights shine for Him. They are caring and compassionate, and their natural beauty is only enhanced by the beauty from within. They never fail to encourage one another and to just be there in times of need.
Beauty is all around us. It’s in God’s creation, and it’s in the way people show love to one another. Beauty can be found in everything if a person just takes the time to look.