The sound of opening lyrics to “Hands” by Jewel filled the stage area of Winona State’s Art Tye lounge on March 17.
“If I could tell the world just one thing, it would be that we’re all ok,” the lyrics rang.
As the music played, members of the Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority and a few other students held lit candles of various shapes and sizes.
Jewel’s message that we’re all ok was the message of the night during a candlelight vigil for the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders whose mantra is, “Accept yourself. Accept others.”
Before the candles were lit, a registered dietitian at Gundersen Lutheran Hospital, Diane Hinrichs-Kelbel, spoke about the danger of eating disorders.
She said eating disorders usually start while a person is on a diet, and we don’t know exactly what happens in a person’s brain, but it’s like a switch is flipped.
That’s how Delta Phi Epsilon sister and former victim of anorexia, Samantha Brunn’s eating disorder began.
She said she wanted to lose a few pounds and fit into the smallest size cheerleading skirt. Before long, her entire food intake each day had dwindled down to just one Nutri-Grain bar.
She ate it, nibble by nibble, throughout the day in order to curb her hunger.
When her friends would ask her why she wasn’t eating lunch at school, she’d tell them she had a big breakfast. When her parents would ask her why she wasn’t eating supper, she’d tell them she ate while they were at work.
Hinrichs-Kelbel said when people eat like this for weight and not for health they get it all wrong.
“I don’t say that we’re in an obesity epidemic, we’re in an obsession-with-weight epidemic,” she said.
Jean Tilley, Delta Phi Epsilon’s philanthropy chairperson, said eight million Americans suffer from eating disorders.
Brunn said her best friend in seventh-grade, Kayla, was one of these eight million.
When Kayla was hospitalized, Brunn and her friends didn’t know much about eating disorders.
“Seeing her go through it was very scary and stressful,” Brunn said.
Kayla was Brunn’s first exposure to someone who struggles with an eating disorder, but she wasn’t the last.
In high school her friend Dani also struggled with anorexia.
Her struggle was more tragic than just a hospital visit. On March 11, 2003, Dani died of liver failure caused by the eating disorder.
“Her story and the stories of others should not be forgotten,” Brunn said.
To make these stories less common, Hinrichs-Kelbel said we should just avoid diets all together.
“Ninty percent of diets fail and frankly, the $50 billion dieting industry doesn’t care,” she said.
She also said we need to start questioning our notions of health and beauty.
Being healthy does not mean tan, thin and buff.
“If we believe in ourselves and believe we’re beautiful the way we are in our culture, eating disorders will go away,” Hinrichs-Kelbel said.
Believing we’re beautiful is difficult for many women. A statistic from Gundersen Lutheran’s Behavioral Health says that more than 80 percent of American women find their appearance dissatisfactory.
If this dissatisfaction turns into actions like counting calories, checking weight daily, having a poor self image or constantly thinking about food and weight, you may be at risk of an eating disorder.
Gundersen Lutheran’s eating disorder treatment program can be reached at 608-775-2287. National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Eating Disorders, the organization for which the vigil was held, also offers free support groups and can be reached at 847-831-3438.

Questions or comments?
Contact Lydia at
LCOglesb3075@winona.edu