Reducing the burden of eating disorders: A model for population‐based prevention and treatment for university and college campuses

Abstract

The prevalence of individuals at high risk or with clinical eating disorders (EDs) on college campuses is high. Often, students are tasked with evaluating the urgency of their needs and knowing when to seek services, which leads to delays in seeking care. Without intervention, symptoms may worsen, resulting in adverse consequences and impaired functioning. As such, early identification and reduced symptom progression for individuals across the risk/clinical continuum of ED psychopathology is urgently needed. However, effective intervention for EDs on the college campus remains a significant challenge. Counseling centers are often understaffed and overburdened, with directors reporting an average student to counselor ratio of 1,900:11. Indeed, less than 20% of students who are screened positive for EDs report receiving treatment.2 The gap in care delivery necessitates research on ways to improve the quality and efficiency of treatment delivery for symptomatic individuals and decrease the number of individuals requiring care. We propose a population-based model, for heuristic purposes, for the identification, prevention, and treatment of EDs, to reduce the incidence and prevalence of EDs on the college campus. A population-based approach allows us to move beyond treating individuals to more broadly intervene with a population, thereby increasing real-world clinical utility of ED interventions and improving the college counseling system of care for EDs.