Penn State Health Promotion and Wellness (HPW) is working with HealthWorks, a student peer education outreach program, to host various events throughout the week of March 20 to focus on bringing awareness to eating disorders.

From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21, at table 4 in the HUB, there will be a “Love Letters to Our Bodies” booth. Here, students are encouraged to write a thank you letter to their body and its functions.

There will also be an eating disorder awareness table from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22, in the IM Building lobby. This booth is more informational and is focused on educating students on misconceptions about eating disorders as well as where to go for resources on campus.

To wrap up the week, there will be a workshop on how to help a friend with an eating disorder from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 24, in HUB 131. The workshop will help attendees learn about how to talk to a friend with an eating disorder, where helpful resources are, and how to foster a body-positive attitude.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), 28.8 million Americans will go through an eating disorder at some time in their lives. This is regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and body type.

All of the events are free to attend, and more information can be found on Penn State’s student wellness Instagram.