Touchy, Feely, Happy,

[SEC=UGA]

The third annual Fat-Talk Free Week is based on a program piloted at San Antonio's Trinity University. Since 2008, the Reflections Body Image Program — developed by Carolyn Becker, an associate professor of psychology at Trinity, that school's sororities and the national Delta Delta Delta fraternity — has been introduced on more than 50 campuses. Sample exercise: Stand in front of a mirror in as little clothing as you feel comfortable wearing. Then write down only positive things about yourself. "It's really hard for women to do," says Becker. "Women are used to standing in front of the mirror and trashing themselves."

 

The program's philosophy is based on research by Eric Stice, a clinical psychologist at Oregon Research Institute, who found the most effective way to prevent eating disorders is to enlist the theory of cognitive dissonance. As humans, we tend to align our beliefs and our actions; helping young women speak and act against the thin ideal creates an uncomfortable psychological state that leads to a change in beliefs. In a 2008 study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Stice reported a 60% reduction in the risk of developing eating disorders for female high school and college students who spent just three hours critiquing the thin ideal; the risk in reduction persisted over a three-year follow-up. (See TIME's special report "How to Live 100 Years.")

 

"It's one thing to have nice ads that say feel good about yourself, but what they're doing at Reflections is really groundbreaking," says Grefe.

 

After participating in the program, which consists of two two-hour sessions, a Rutgers sorority removed all the scales in its bathroom so women would stop hopping from one to the next to see which scale yielded the lowest weight. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign intends to implement the program at sororities campus-wide. And Tri Delta offers the curriculum to its 138 collegiate chapters in the U.S. and Canada, plus any sorority or campus women's group that expresses interest.

 

A recent Reflections participant, Vanderbilt senior Julie Lucas has made a pact with her roommate to hold each other accountable for fat talk. "A lot of times I say, 'I need to go on a run,' and she says, 'No, you want to go on a run,'" says Lucas. "It's an attitude change."

 

 

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,...2#ixzz12MXmPTAx

[driveby]

Dollars to donuts Carolyn Becker is a chubber.

[Perchoutofwater]

Stupid