Dr. Margaret S. McKenna, who stepped down last month as head of the UHS eating disorders program, says she has personally evaluated 100 students a year, and that more students may see other staffers.

At UHS, Chief of Mental Health Services Dr. Randolph Catlin says that about 10 percent of each undergraduate class uses the mental health services, though not exclusively for eating concerns.

The Bureau of Study Counsel refuses to comment on how many students use its workshops and counselors.

The bureau, which oversees ECHO, offers an Eating Concerns Group, as well as periodic workshops for students who are concerned about friends, roommates and loved ones.

Psychotherapy and individual counseling are available through the bureau, as well as informational handouts and pamphlets compiled by the staff.

The Department of Athletics is also trying to better inform athletes, captains and coaches about eating disorders. In 1993, the department had a conference on the issue, and it may hold another one.

"Athletic women are at higher risk because they're physically active pushing their bodies in training," says Senior Associate Director of Athletics Patricia W. Henry, who organized the conference. "No one is free of the issue--everybody has to deal with it."

The bureau, UHS, Harvard Dining Services, the athletic department, ECHO and other groups are also linked through the Eating Concerns Network, a group of professionals who refer students to each other as appropriate and periodically discuss the issues faced by students with eating disorders on campus.

But some students suffering from eating disorders say they have not found the services they wanted on campus.

Women's Swim Team Captain Deborah L. Kory '95, who says she has observed eating concerns on the team, says she would like to see more emphasis on helping students with sub-clinical eating concerns.

"People feel guilty about what they're eating. The next level down [from anorexia and bulimia] would be nice to address: why the general population of women on this campus is not happy about the way they look, why people feel pressure to always be a little thinner, a few pounds lighter," she says. "It's a major problem--most women carry around this little cloud."

Eve F. Kaplan '95, who was a compulsive overeater her first year at Harvard, says she tried going to ECHO drop-in hours but did not find what she felt she needed.

"I felt like they didn't want to talk about it. It's obvious that you want to talk," she says. "It was also obvious to me that they had issues with eating. I just felt more alone after I left."

ECHO counselors say, however, that it is not always evident when callers or visitors want to talk openly, or what kind of help a caller needs.

"Sometimes the caller may feel helpless and frustrated, when a person feels they cannot be helped," Langston says.