The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) has designated this week as National Eating Disorders Awareness week, and many campus organizations at San Diego State will he holding events to highlight the issue. Organizers will focus on promoting positive body image and providing help to those in need.”Negative body image leads to negative eating, which could lead to an eating disorder,” said Tracy Daly, a registered dietician and adjunct professor with the Peer Health Education program. Daly, who teaches a class called “Balance: Eating Disorder & Body Image” to Peer Health Educators, said she sees many students suffering from disordered eating or an eating disorder at her office in Student Health Services. Eating disorders differ from disordered eating, but Daly warns that disordered eating, when not controlled, can lead to an eating disorder. “There are several criteria we use to determine if someone has an eating disorder,” she said. “For anorexia, anyone who is severely underweight, meaning 85 percent or less of their ideal weight, and a fear of becoming fat so much that it begins to affect their life.”For bulimia, there is purging, which can be vomiting after meals or laxative use, but also over-exercising, because the person is exercising to remove excess calories.”The Body Image and Nutrition Peer Health Educators, Health Promotion Department, P.A.T.C.H. (Peer Advocates for Total College Health), and NOW (National Organization for Women) will be to tabling this week outside the Open Air Theatre beginning at 10 a.m. and relocating to the ARC at 3 p.m.Tomorrow, the NOW’s SDSU Chapter will host “Love Your Body Day” in the Tula community center at Tenochca residence hall. The festivities will kick off at 2 p.m. with a pole dancing exercise, followed by a panel with a dietician and psychologist who will talk and answer questions for students. Finally, a “real bodies” fashion show will be held at 4:30 p.m. “Volunteers will walk down a runway in fancy clothes to show that you don’t have to be stick thin to be in a fashion show,” Daly said. Another focus of the week’s events is getting help for someone who may have an eating disorder. “For everyone it’s different, and some students may feel it is hard to talk to staff about these issues, so having a peer to speak with about them is a great service we offer,” Daly said.Students can use the services of the health promotion department, including physicians, therapists and dieticians free of charge. “Our main focus is to promote positive body image and be comfortable with who you are,” Daly said. “Everyone is beautiful and we want people to be aware of these issues so that we can stop it and get the help to those who need it.”For more information about eating disorders or becoming a Peer Health Educator, call the offices of Health Promotion at (619) 594-4133.