It has come to my attention that nursing 065 has an assignment that requires students to track food, calories, etc using my fitness pal. On behalf of the Project HEAL's UPenn student organization, a nonprofit dedicated to eating disorders awareness, we hope to inspire faculty to revise this assignment for the future. 

It can be incredibly triggering to Penn students who have or currently struggle with an eating disorder or disordered eating or exercise behaviors. Eating disorders are a common but often quiet struggle for many students at Penn, some of which has expressed to me that they have found this assignment incredibly detrimental to their recovery and mental/physical well-being. 

While students may request an alternative assignment, some students may not feel comfortable doing so or may not realize the negative impact the assignment will have on them until after they have completed it. Additionally, studies indicate that beginning to track food or calories can be a slippery slope for some students under high stress that may be genetically prone to eating disorders. We do not think we should continue to risk inducing an eating disorder in students and we respectfully believe that the assignment should be revised to focus less on calories, weight, and food tracking, and more on general health. I understand it’s educational aspects, but I fear that it may do more harm than good for a vulnerable community. 

Specifically, we would like to remove the weight tracking, calories, and body fat percentage. Additionally, we would like to remove the idea of a “goal” calorie intake from the assignment, which makes students feel inadequate if they exceed it. Lastly, we would like to incorporate more eating disorder education into the assignment. Links to articles about the dangers of diet tracking apps https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-48842898​ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5700836/