More then 10 million American women and another million men suffer from an eating disorder, the Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center says.

At the same time, the average model is 5 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 117 pounds, while the average American woman is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 140 pounds, statistics from the Eating Disorders Awareness Prevention Inc. says.

Rima Chaudry, director of the SF State Women’s Center, believes there is a connection, which is why the center decided to focus on body images in the media for the upcoming National Eating Disorder Awareness Week from Feb. 27 to March 5.

Chaudry believes when the average woman in the media is much thinner than the average woman in society, it pressures women to lose weight, which in turn can lead to eating disorders.

"I would say that it’s one of the main causes (of eating disorders)," said Chaudry. "Wherever we go, on the computer, watching TV, just walking down the street and seeing posters and billboards…Unless you’re locked up in your room, you’re always gonna be constantly hit with these images."

Approximately five to 10 million Americans suffer from one of the three categories of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder. The National Eating Disorders Association’s website categorizes the three disorders as follows:

Anorexia nervosa is categorized mainly by: "resistance to maintaining body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height, intense fear of weight gain or being ‘fat’ even though underweight and disturbance in the experience of body weight or shape."

Bulimia nervosa is categorized as: "episodes of bingeing and purging, feeling out of control during a binge and eating beyond the point of comfortable fullness, purging after a binge, (typically by self-induced vomiting, abuse of laxatives, diet pills and/or diuretics, excessive exercise, or fasting), frequent dieting and extreme concern with body weight and shape."

Binge eating is characterized primarily by "periods of uncontrolled, impulsive, or continuous eating beyond the point of feeling comfortably full."

At SF State, Teresa Leu, a nutritionist from the Student Health Center, said she comes into contact with about 12 to 24 students suffering from an eating disorder yearly. Sometimes, students come to the center after realizing they have a problem. At other times, an athletic trainer might bring them in, or medical staff will refer them, after noticing a dramatic weight loss or other signs of an eating disorder.

Albert Angelo, a health educator at the Student Health Center, led the first workshop on Feb. 7. Angelo showed slides of magazine images and said that most women in the media are not representative of the average women. They instead promote unrealistic body ideals. He encouraged workshop participants to reject the body ideals promoted in the media and realize that they don’t have to conform.

During the second workshop, on Feb. 8, the center showed the movie "Killing Me Softly," created by Jean Kilbourne, a writer and lecturer who has analyzed the social impacts of advertising for more than 40 years.

The last workshop, on Feb. 9, was the most popular one, according to the participants. It featured the movie "Body Image: The Quest for Perfection" produced in 1999. The movie, based on research by SF State BECA professor Michelle Wolf, and directed by SF State BECA assistant professor Hamid Khani, consisted of seven women who discussed images of women in media and the consequences of them, their self-esteem and attitudes towards their bodies.

Alison Victor, manager of the Depot and BECA master student, said she believed that the media plays a part in causing eating disorders, although not the only part.

"They put out these ideals on how women should be, and we see these ideals and think, this is how it should be," said Victor. "I think everyone’s affected by these ideals on some level."

Wolf believes the media plays a role in causing eating disorders, although she said that other factors play in as well, including family relationships and childhood.

"People who develop anorexia and bulimia, even though they do have body image problems, also have deeper psychological problems," said Wolf. The loss of a parent, incest, child abuse, having been abandoned or a childhood where it was not acceptable to express feelings increase the chances that a person may develop an eating disorder, Wolf’s research says.

Wolf has been conducting research on the mass media’s impact on self-worth and body image for years. Her interest originates in her own background. Wolf suffered from anorexia and bulimia for 30 years of her life.

"When I went to college, everybody was on a diet. I started to lose weight and I got down to 70 pounds," said Wolf during her presentation. "In the 30 years that followed, I had an eating disorder. My weight has ranged from 70 to 115 pounds all my life."

Wolf’s life changed when she, after having seen a number of therapists, finally came into contact with a therapist that she could connect with and who was able to help her.

"You can’t get someone to have an eating disorder to seek help until they want to," said Wolf, who still thinks that if you suspect someone of having an eating disorder, you should try to talk to them. She recommends turning to hotlines or websites that offer support to people with eating disorders and the people that know them.