Eating disorders affect people of all skin colors and gender, according to a recent panel held at St. Edward’s University.

The panel, entitled “The Diversity of Eating Disorders: Multicultural Differences Among Subgroups of Women and Men in America,” discussed eating disorders in African-American and Latina women as well as eating disorders in men.

The panel on Feb. 16 discussed eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binging and purging. The panel is part of the Body Image Awareness month, which supports the philosophy of behavior-centered healthy lifestyle choices instead of focusing on size, weight or shape.

“The disease is very real, and it does not discriminate,” said Lea Gebhart, the nutritionist expert at Cedar Springs Austin Eating Disorder Center.

The discussion on Latina women, lead by Iona Boie from the Eating Disorder Center in San Antonio, brought up the fact that people in general think eating disorders are labeled the “white woman’s disease.”

Research shows that Latina women are much less likely to develop an eating disorder if they are bilingual, as opposed to Latinas born in the U.S to parents that only speak English, according to Boie.

“Eating disorders [have] a genetic component and… the environment just pulls the trigger,” Gebhart said.

Eating disorders are also fairly common among men.

A poll dating back to 2007 revealed that 25 percent of Americans with an eating disorder are men, but there are some differences between the symptoms displayed by the two sexes, according to Brad Kennington, executive director of Cedar Springs.

“Of the 25 percent, half of the men wanted to gain weight and half wanted to lose weight,” Kennington said. “The underlining emotional core is the same in both men and women, but the outward results are a bit different.”

Many people with eating disorders have pre-existing conditions such as anxiety, prior abuse or depression, according to Claudia Carroll, director of the St. Edward’s Counseling Center.

“People that develop eating disorders that feel out of control can at least control what they are putting in their mouth,” Carroll said.

Many people who attended the panel were surprised to hear this, including senior Neil Leff-Wilson.

“It was surprising to me that eating disorders are much more about control than… about the actual food,” Leff-Wilson said.

Other students voiced their appreciation for the discussion.

“This is definitely something that needs to be discussed more around campus because it can also benefit people without eating disorders,” junior Matt Frazier said.