Problems with body image might be more common than people think.

With images of celebrities everywhere, from magazine racks in supermarkets to advertisements on billboards, most people deal with body image issues at some point in their lives and eating disorders are becoming more prevalent, said Dave Novicki, a professor and counselor at the MSU Counseling Center.

The problems with body image are not going away anytime soon and prompted a panel discussion on Monday night held by the campus group Respecting and Understanding Body Image, or RUBI.

The group works to promote positive body images and increase eating disorder awareness.

"We have a lot of people that are not 'eating disordered,'" he said. "Many people look at a way to be viewed as worthwhile and attractive human beings."

Novicki counsels many students, both men and women, who deal with eating disorders, including those who are in treatment and recovery.

At least 5 percent of women on campus, or about 1,200 women, exhibit an eating disorder.

The number of disordered eaters, or people who alter their eating patterns because of their body image, is much higher, he said.

Novicki was part of the panel that included Olin Health Center nutritionist Ronda Bokram and licensed psychologist Alison Howie-Day.

Helping people with eating disorders is not so much about a certain technique or method, but about understanding why they have the disorder in the first place, Novicki said.

"Many of the people that experience difficulties with body image or eating disorders experience it within the context that it is one of the few areas they can be in control over or have power with," he said.

"One of the things we are doing is looking at ways they can be powerful in other areas."

Eating disorders are rarely about food, but underlying emotional issues the person is dealing with. Howie-Day said she helps people not by focusing on what they are or aren't eating, but on expressing their feelings and articulating them better.

"It's not what you're eating, it's what's eating you," she said.

Bokram looks at helping people with eating disorders on a more individual basis.

"There is not one piece of paper that I hand out to people that would work for everyone," she said. "It's a lot of trial and error ... I have to find out what brought them there in the first place."

Having events like the panel discussion are something that all of the panelists said they hope make people more aware of how to have a positive body image, and of the resources in the area that are available to them.

"Weight isn't the issue," Howie-Day said. "It is how healthy and fit you are.

"People should probably throw out the scale."

All of the panelists are helpful in different ways because of their different specializations, said Tiffany Titus, the vice president of RUBI.

Bokram has helped her by making her think differently about food and why she is afraid of certain foods.

"Sometimes it makes me laugh," she said.

"Fifty calories can make a person freak out."