BANA encourages you to #beyourselfie

By Jillian Toman

The local Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa Association was challenging people to post their most authentic selfie as part of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week campaign.

“We’re calling this #beyourselfie 2.0,” said Luciana Rosu-Sieza, BANA’s executive director.  This year’s selfie campaign encouraged everyone to post an unedited and unfiltered selfie with a positive message to social media.

BANA welcomed the public to visit their booth at various locations across Windsor last week to participate in the campaign for a chance to win a gift card.

It’s a call to action to celebrate positive self-esteem and body image.

Rosu-Sieza said the goal is to get people talking about mental health — more specifically eating disorders — with hopes to reduce the shame and stigma surrounding the complexities of body image, a condition that impacts an estimated 600,000 Canadians.

“I always say it’s a small percentage of people that have an eating disorder.  However, I would say 100 per cent of people have body image issues on some point of the continuum of their life,” said Rosu-Sieza.

She said, for young people specifically, the pressure to receive likes and affirmations on social media is heightened.

“It really creates sleepless nights, anxiety and depression; it can be very physiologically distressing,” she said.

Rosu-Sieza said although BANA provides support to adults, the community may be alarmed to know they have received requests for support for individuals as young as the age of five.

Media literacy is a large part of the conversation piece, said Sarah Santarossa, BANA’s health promotions education researcher and a University of Windsor PhD student.

“Things become so convoluted with social media because we can be whoever we want to be at our fingertips. We look at all these people who are young and have become insta-famous or become Youtube stars and that’s what a lot of  young  people are aspiring to be like,” she said.

Santarossa encourages people to offer meaningful compliments on social media and to question the impact of likes or emojis on the way we see ourselves.

University of Windsor Student Sameena Sultana visited BANA’s Booth at the CAW Centre to contribute her Polaroid and positive message.

“I chose the phrase ‘strive for progress not perfection.’  It resonates because it’s not about being perfect, it’s about being confident in being who you are and growing as a person,” said Sultana, adding she is not one to take many selfies but welcomed the opportunity to encourage people to celebrate their uniqueness.

For more information about the #beyourselfie campaign visit bana.ca.