The number of male eating disorder cases is on the rise. Professor Hubert Lacey, the head of the eating disorder unit at St Georges Hospital in Tooting, south London, reported seeing more male than female anorexia referrals for the first time in the summer of 2008.
According to Brad Kennington, MA, LMFT, LPC, the executive director of Austin Sendero, a comprehensive eating disorder treatment program for men and women in Granger, Texas, male eating disorders are much more common than people realize.
While experts used to believe that only 10 percent of the estimated 10 million eating disorder sufferers were male, a 2007 Harvard study of 3,000 male and female participants has shown that the disorders are much more prevalent 25 percent of those with anorexia or bulimia and 40 percent of binge eaters were men.
Why Are Males Struggling with Eating Disorders?
Men often develop eating disorders for different reasons than women. According to Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. (ANRED), some risk factors for males include:
Being fat or overweight as a child.
Going on a diet to improve their appearance. (Dieting is a powerful trigger for disordered eating for both males and females.)
Being a member of the gay community.
Participating in a sport or profession that demands thinness.
Living in a culture obsessed with diets and physical appearance.
Young boys who are overweight tend to get bullied and teased about their weight, which can leave emotional scars that last well into adulthood, says Kennington. Once fixated on weight at a young age, many boys will continue to obsess about being thin and relate being normal or overweight with being disliked, ostracized, and shunned.
When a young person is bullied about his weight, he attaches negative feelings to the extra pounds and will do everything he can to get rid of the weight in order to alleviate the bad feelings, explains Kennington. It doesnt matter whether the boy is actually overweight or in the normal range for his age if hes bullied, hes going to have a lot of painful emotions to deal with.
Because of the tendency to focus on body image, appearance, and youth in the gay community, homosexual men are especially vulnerable to eating disorders. According to ANRED, gay men are thought to comprise about 5 percent of the male population in the U.S., but they represent up to 42 percent of the male eating disordered population.
Men who participate in weight-restrictive sports or careers such as jockeys, gymnasts, wrestlers, rowers, body builders, dancers, swimmers, models, actors, and runners are also at an increased risk of developing anorexia or bulimia. The pressure to excel and win at all costs contributes to the onset of disordered eating patterns.
Males might also inadvertently develop eating disorders by trying to stave off medical problems they saw their parents, friends, or loved ones suffer from as a child or adolescent, says Kennington. For example, a young boy whose father dies of heart disease or whose mother battled diabetes or suffered a stroke may go to extremes with diet or fitness in order to avoid suffering the same fate.
Research shows that women who develop eating disorders often feel fat when they are actually near average weight. Men, on the other hand, are often considered medically overweight before developing an eating disorder. Studies also suggest that men who are compulsive overeaters or binge eaters may go undiagnosed more than women because of societys willingness to accept an overweight man over an overweight woman.
While women tend to focus on weight, says Kennington, men focus on shape, spending hours in the gym, risking their jobs and relationships to carve out the perfect body that they believe will make them feel desired, wanted, and empowered. Their body becomes their identity, and they become unable to recognize the damage theyre doing to their body and their relationships.
While men and women develop eating disorders for different reasons, many of the warning signs are the same. For both men and women, common signs of anorexia include poor body image, frequent exercise, performing food rituals, perfectionist behaviors, depression or isolation, thinning hair, low body weight, obsessive-compulsiveness, inability to eat with others, and fatigue. For bulimics, the warning signs may include binge eating, frequent trips to the bathroom after meals, discolored teeth, fluctuations in weight, secrecy surrounding eating, excessive exercise, and use of laxatives or diuretics.
Buckling Under Social and Cultural Pressures
Experts believe one of the biggest reasons for the increase in male eating disorders is social and cultural pressure to look good. Studies show that men are far more concerned about appearance and body image than they were in the past.
In May 2004, researchers at the University of Central Florida discovered that men who watched television commercials with muscular actors felt unhappy about their own physiques. The researchers concluded that this culture of muscularity may be linked to eating disorders and steroid abuse.
More and more, males are reading magazines venerating men with six-pack abs and chiseled physiques, which often are airbrushed and nearly impossible to achieve. As boys compare themselves to these images and fall short of their ideal vision of what masculinity means, theyre developing the same sorts of disordered eating habits and behaviors that women have fallen prey to for years. Men also struggle with muscle dysmorphia, a disorder that is characterized by an extreme concern with becoming more muscular.
If you look at the mens section of a magazine stand, front and center youll see chiseled chests and cut biceps, states Kennington. Instead of flipping through Sports Illustrated or Popular Mechanics, which used to be the most prominent male magazines, now the first thing youll see is airbrushed fitness magazines.
The same is true when you turn on the television, according to Kennington. In the span of one 30-minute program, were bombarded with advertisements for male vanity products like body wash and drugs and treatments for hair growth, he says. Of course, these are perfectly acceptable product ads in reasonable doses. But when theyre taken to the extreme, the media message can be very harmful.
This increased cultural pressure for a perfect, toned body has inspired terms like bigorexia (male dissatisfaction with lack of body muscle) and manorexia (male preoccupation with extreme thinness). And though experts believe a significant number of male celebrities and public figures struggle with these disorders, few well-known men have come forward (with the exception of actors Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton, who admitted to battling anorexia, and singer Elton John who suffered from bulimia).
Males are under the same pressure as females to strive for the perfect body, says Kennington. When they fail to achieve their goal, they experience the same feelings of inadequacy that any human would face. The difference is men are not allowed to express or process those feelings, which continues to feed the disorder and open the man up to further shame and isolation.
Overcoming Shame, Getting Help
It is common for eating disorder sufferers to experience a great deal of shame about the abuse they are inflicting upon themselves. But men face the additional hurdle of struggling with a disorder that has always been seen by society as a female problem. Add to that the assumption by the public that only gay men suffer from eating disorders, and it becomes clear why males with eating disorders have kept their suffering quiet.
For many males, the fear behind acknowledging their eating disorder and seeking treatment is that others will see them as feminine, unmanly, or gay, says Kennington. Men tend to be slow to seek medical help anyway, so by the time they seek treatment for an eating disorder, they often are very, very sick.
But like females, males usually need professional help to overcome an eating disorder. As the public awareness of male eating disorders increases, more men are willing to come forward and seek treatment. And more treatment programs have begun tailoring treatment to the needs of male clientele.
At Austin Sendero, a residential eating disorder treatment program geared toward men as well as women, the staff of eating disorder professionals has developed an expertise in treating male eating disorders. Each member of the treatment team has been hand-selected for their experience working with the male population, and many are well-versed in physical fitness and healthy living.
In an environment that is gender-neutral, patients learn to implement a healthy lifestyle through fitness, nutrition, and therapy and develop healthier connections with peers, family, and themselves. As patients at Austin Sendero begin to develop an identity separate from the eating disorder, they begin to feel accepted for who they are.
Whether man or woman, old or young, eating disorders are some of the most devastating and life-threatening mental health problems facing people today. If you or someone you know displays any of the symptoms described above or is finding unhealthy ways to cope with the pressure to be thin, call a residential eating disorder treatment program. Facilities like Austin Sendero can help both men and women with eating disorders overcome their individual hurdles and build a path to recovery.
Source: CRC Health Group
According to Brad Kennington, MA, LMFT, LPC, the executive director of Austin Sendero, a comprehensive eating disorder treatment program for men and women in Granger, Texas, male eating disorders are much more common than people realize.
While experts used to believe that only 10 percent of the estimated 10 million eating disorder sufferers were male, a 2007 Harvard study of 3,000 male and female participants has shown that the disorders are much more prevalent 25 percent of those with anorexia or bulimia and 40 percent of binge eaters were men.
Why Are Males Struggling with Eating Disorders?
Men often develop eating disorders for different reasons than women. According to Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. (ANRED), some risk factors for males include:
Being fat or overweight as a child.
Going on a diet to improve their appearance. (Dieting is a powerful trigger for disordered eating for both males and females.)
Being a member of the gay community.
Participating in a sport or profession that demands thinness.
Living in a culture obsessed with diets and physical appearance.
Young boys who are overweight tend to get bullied and teased about their weight, which can leave emotional scars that last well into adulthood, says Kennington. Once fixated on weight at a young age, many boys will continue to obsess about being thin and relate being normal or overweight with being disliked, ostracized, and shunned.
When a young person is bullied about his weight, he attaches negative feelings to the extra pounds and will do everything he can to get rid of the weight in order to alleviate the bad feelings, explains Kennington. It doesnt matter whether the boy is actually overweight or in the normal range for his age if hes bullied, hes going to have a lot of painful emotions to deal with.
Because of the tendency to focus on body image, appearance, and youth in the gay community, homosexual men are especially vulnerable to eating disorders. According to ANRED, gay men are thought to comprise about 5 percent of the male population in the U.S., but they represent up to 42 percent of the male eating disordered population.
Men who participate in weight-restrictive sports or careers such as jockeys, gymnasts, wrestlers, rowers, body builders, dancers, swimmers, models, actors, and runners are also at an increased risk of developing anorexia or bulimia. The pressure to excel and win at all costs contributes to the onset of disordered eating patterns.
Males might also inadvertently develop eating disorders by trying to stave off medical problems they saw their parents, friends, or loved ones suffer from as a child or adolescent, says Kennington. For example, a young boy whose father dies of heart disease or whose mother battled diabetes or suffered a stroke may go to extremes with diet or fitness in order to avoid suffering the same fate.
Research shows that women who develop eating disorders often feel fat when they are actually near average weight. Men, on the other hand, are often considered medically overweight before developing an eating disorder. Studies also suggest that men who are compulsive overeaters or binge eaters may go undiagnosed more than women because of societys willingness to accept an overweight man over an overweight woman.
While women tend to focus on weight, says Kennington, men focus on shape, spending hours in the gym, risking their jobs and relationships to carve out the perfect body that they believe will make them feel desired, wanted, and empowered. Their body becomes their identity, and they become unable to recognize the damage theyre doing to their body and their relationships.
While men and women develop eating disorders for different reasons, many of the warning signs are the same. For both men and women, common signs of anorexia include poor body image, frequent exercise, performing food rituals, perfectionist behaviors, depression or isolation, thinning hair, low body weight, obsessive-compulsiveness, inability to eat with others, and fatigue. For bulimics, the warning signs may include binge eating, frequent trips to the bathroom after meals, discolored teeth, fluctuations in weight, secrecy surrounding eating, excessive exercise, and use of laxatives or diuretics.
Buckling Under Social and Cultural Pressures
Experts believe one of the biggest reasons for the increase in male eating disorders is social and cultural pressure to look good. Studies show that men are far more concerned about appearance and body image than they were in the past.
In May 2004, researchers at the University of Central Florida discovered that men who watched television commercials with muscular actors felt unhappy about their own physiques. The researchers concluded that this culture of muscularity may be linked to eating disorders and steroid abuse.
More and more, males are reading magazines venerating men with six-pack abs and chiseled physiques, which often are airbrushed and nearly impossible to achieve. As boys compare themselves to these images and fall short of their ideal vision of what masculinity means, theyre developing the same sorts of disordered eating habits and behaviors that women have fallen prey to for years. Men also struggle with muscle dysmorphia, a disorder that is characterized by an extreme concern with becoming more muscular.
If you look at the mens section of a magazine stand, front and center youll see chiseled chests and cut biceps, states Kennington. Instead of flipping through Sports Illustrated or Popular Mechanics, which used to be the most prominent male magazines, now the first thing youll see is airbrushed fitness magazines.
The same is true when you turn on the television, according to Kennington. In the span of one 30-minute program, were bombarded with advertisements for male vanity products like body wash and drugs and treatments for hair growth, he says. Of course, these are perfectly acceptable product ads in reasonable doses. But when theyre taken to the extreme, the media message can be very harmful.
This increased cultural pressure for a perfect, toned body has inspired terms like bigorexia (male dissatisfaction with lack of body muscle) and manorexia (male preoccupation with extreme thinness). And though experts believe a significant number of male celebrities and public figures struggle with these disorders, few well-known men have come forward (with the exception of actors Dennis Quaid and Billy Bob Thornton, who admitted to battling anorexia, and singer Elton John who suffered from bulimia).
Males are under the same pressure as females to strive for the perfect body, says Kennington. When they fail to achieve their goal, they experience the same feelings of inadequacy that any human would face. The difference is men are not allowed to express or process those feelings, which continues to feed the disorder and open the man up to further shame and isolation.
Overcoming Shame, Getting Help
It is common for eating disorder sufferers to experience a great deal of shame about the abuse they are inflicting upon themselves. But men face the additional hurdle of struggling with a disorder that has always been seen by society as a female problem. Add to that the assumption by the public that only gay men suffer from eating disorders, and it becomes clear why males with eating disorders have kept their suffering quiet.
For many males, the fear behind acknowledging their eating disorder and seeking treatment is that others will see them as feminine, unmanly, or gay, says Kennington. Men tend to be slow to seek medical help anyway, so by the time they seek treatment for an eating disorder, they often are very, very sick.
But like females, males usually need professional help to overcome an eating disorder. As the public awareness of male eating disorders increases, more men are willing to come forward and seek treatment. And more treatment programs have begun tailoring treatment to the needs of male clientele.
At Austin Sendero, a residential eating disorder treatment program geared toward men as well as women, the staff of eating disorder professionals has developed an expertise in treating male eating disorders. Each member of the treatment team has been hand-selected for their experience working with the male population, and many are well-versed in physical fitness and healthy living.
In an environment that is gender-neutral, patients learn to implement a healthy lifestyle through fitness, nutrition, and therapy and develop healthier connections with peers, family, and themselves. As patients at Austin Sendero begin to develop an identity separate from the eating disorder, they begin to feel accepted for who they are.
Whether man or woman, old or young, eating disorders are some of the most devastating and life-threatening mental health problems facing people today. If you or someone you know displays any of the symptoms described above or is finding unhealthy ways to cope with the pressure to be thin, call a residential eating disorder treatment program. Facilities like Austin Sendero can help both men and women with eating disorders overcome their individual hurdles and build a path to recovery.
Source: CRC Health Group
