In the U.S., conservative estimates indicate that 5 to 10 million women are currently struggling with an eating disorder.

Over a person's lifetime, at least 50,000 individuals will die as a direct result of their eating disorder.

Eighty percent of American women are dissatisfied with their appearance.

These facts were discussed Wednesday during the sixth installment of the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) Personal Issues Series, titled "Understanding Eating Disorders and How to Help." "One thing that is important to understand about eating disorders is that it's not just about food and weight," Mary Anne Knapp, clinical social worker at CAPS, said. Eating disorders involve complex psychological factors, such as perfectionism, and can be a refuge for people who have experienced traumatic events that they can't deal with, she said.

Knapp said eating disorders are increasingly becoming a multigenerational condition. "We see people now whose mothers and fathers had eating disorders in college, so it's sort of become embedded in our culture, and it doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon," she said.

Eleonora Odes, pre-doctoral intern in psychology, said the media, including magazines, commercials and actresses, can contribute to an eating disorder.

"It's natural to look up to really attractive people," she said. "Once we internalize these unhealthy images, we start to feel like we don't measure up."

She said research shows girls today start dieting as early as age 6. "On some level, what we see influences what we think about ourselves," she said. The second part of the program focused on helping people with eating disorders.

Looking at the consequences of eating disorders, such as increased risk for heart failure, reduction of bone density and severe dehydration, may motivate some people to resolve to recover, she said.

"The goal of working on recovery is to get the person to resolve to recover more than 50 percent of the time," she said, adding that professional help may be beneficial to people struggling with an eating disorder.

Odes provided guidelines on how to talk to a friend with an eating disorder. "Be very direct, very straightforward, very caring," she said. "It shouldn't be like a shooting match. Don't sugarcoat it, but be caring," she said.

The most important thing is to know your limitations, Odes said. "If you've talked to a friend and they may not be ready to hear what you have to say, don't get stressed," she said.

Both Knapp and Odes encouraged those struggling with eating disorders to take advantage of CAPS services.

Danielle Opatz (sophomore-nutrition) said she thought the program was informative. "I could definitely apply a lot of the information I got tonight to friends and family who have been in similar situations," she said.