Love Your Body Week, part of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, will reach out to the U to increase awareness of eating disorders.

The week will be held Feb. 21 through Feb. 25 by Students Promoting Eating Disorder Awareness and Knowledge. SPEAK is a student group that started in 2002 with the goal of educating the public about eating disorders, prevention approaches and body-image issues.

The mission of LYBW is to encourage acceptance and celebration of human diversity through body shapes and sizes, according to its website.

Shelly Guillory, a senior in mass communication and SPEAK member, said the group is made up of students, professionals and health educators who work to create awareness and provide resources to anyone who wants more information about eating disorders and how to deal with them.

“We want to contribute to changing the socio-cultural ideals that equate fitness with health, beauty and happiness,” Guillory said. “They lead to a hatred of fat, and they contribute to the emergence of eating disorders, especially on campus where it’s a really big problem.”

“As many as 10 million females and 1 million males are fighting a life-and-death battle with an eating disorder” in the United States, according to the National Eating Disorders Association. A 1996 study showed that 80 percent of American women are dissatisfied with their appearances, and it is presumed that many cases are not reported because of secretiveness and shame.

Andrea Olson, a first-year master’s student in social work, is co-chairing this year’s LYBW with fellow SPEAK member Maya Miyairi. Olson said she struggled with an eating disorder for more than 20 years.

“It may seem too difficult to change your attitudes and beliefs about yourself, but I want people to know it is possible,” she said. “The last three years of recovery have been full of ups and downs, but they have been the best three years of my life. Give yourself a chance to love your body.”

Being able to show there’s hope and that recovery is possible is what keeps her invested in SPEAK and LYBW, Olson said

“Knowing that I am making a difference in peoples’ lives is quite rewarding,” she said. “I plan to be involved with SPEAK, in one way or another, for many years to come.”