TO THE EDITOR:
Many dining-hall-goers this year may have noticed a change in Ram’s Head and Lenoir: the addition of calorie counts onto the name labels directly above foods like desserts, salad bar items and other dining hall options, due to a change in FDA labeling and nutrition law.
Embody Carolina, a UNC Campus Y committee dedicated to raising eating disorder awareness and spreading body positivity, is writing to make students who may be negatively triggered by this policy shift aware of the changes. Up to 20 percent of students on a college campus may be struggling with an eating disorder. Individuals with eating disorders may experience extreme anxiety around food and an obsession with numbers and nutritional information to the point where this disrupts their daily, healthy lives.
Though calorie counting can be useful for some students, it’s important to remember that health is not defined by a single number, and that it may be detrimental to other students’ physical and mental health.
We would like to encourage all students to focus on fueling their bodies with a variety of foods that they enjoy.
There are resources available around campus for students who are concerned about their relationship with food and body image or who are interested in working with a professional to make healthy lifestyle changes, including Antonia Hartley (UNC’s clinical nutrition specialist), Counseling and Psychological Services (brief therapy and body image support group) and the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders (housed in the UNC Neuroscience Hospital).
Bri Arey
Embody co-chairperson
Sarah Leck
