What comes to mind when you think of eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia? Most would say smokey-eyed, stick-thin European models, or the girls you see on the most popular magazine covers. The thought of males and eating disorders would rarely show itself.

"It's just as hard to be Ken as it is to be Barbie."

But did you know that 10-15% of the eating disorder population that is clinically diagnosed is made up by males? Eating disorders are usually only associated with women, but they can be much more prominent in men than they appear. It’s assumed that the main reason that men are less likely to report that they have an issue with food/body image or that they prefer to not seek treatment is simply because they don’t want to admit they are facing a problem that is assumed to be only affecting women.

Males are capable of developing eating disorders just as easily as women are. In most cases, the characteristics of a male’s eating disorder is very similar to those of a woman’s eating disorder.

Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder and Orthorexia are all common among males. But the most common is Bigorexia, one that goes most often unnoticed  and is easily undiagnosed as a problem or disorder.

Bigorexia is also known as Muscular Dysmorphia or reverse anorexia. The main characteristic of someone with this disorder is a faulty perception of their body size in reality. They may see themselves as having muscles that are underdeveloped, but in reality, they have an envious ‘shape’ and strong muscle definition. It’s most commonly found in bodybuilders, yet not all bodybuilders have bigorexia. Someone with bigorexia puts their body through vigorous workouts lasting hours on end and has extreme diet constraints.

"The main characteristic of someone with this disorder is a faulty perception of their body size in reality."

Symptoms of bigorexia include:

• an excessive amount of time spent lifting weights and/or preoccupation with body image, workouts, and diet
• other aspects of life (relationships, education, family, extra-curriculars) may be ignored due to their workout routine and diet restraints
• checking themselves constantly in the mirror
• use of steroids
• covering up body in order to prevent others seeing definition of muscle and body ‘shape’

Just like in women, body image plays a huge role and is often the central issue that leads to eating disorder behaviors.

While women are fixated on weight, in most cases men are fixated on building a muscular body ‘shape’ that represents what our culture views as masculine. Men aren’t as likely to attempt to lose or maintain weight by using dieting or abusing diet pills, laxatives, and diuretics. Men diet as a response to actually feeling overweight, while women diet as a response to feeling ‘fat’ despite most often times not being overweight.

Maintaining a toned and ‘shaped’ body allows men to feel more masculine and in control. The reward, they believe, is greater admiration and respect from others. Most men form their body image through comments made by peers, such as through nicknames and teasing, or early on through being submersed in an athletic or sport-focused environment.

Just imagine, a young boy that already is teased by friends or just has a low-self esteem that is normally seen throughout the high school years, gets told by a coach, ‘You could lose a little weight…’ That could have an everlasting effect on anyone’s image of themselves.

Each person’s eating disorder is unique. It can result from feelings of shame, aloneness, using many different methods of weight loss/control in the past, depression and substance abuse, sexuality, or feelings of wanting to fit some kind of cultural norm. There are also different courses of onset, from wanting to avoid teasing due to being overweight or wanting to improve sports performance, to avoiding the medical issues, like heart disease, found in one’s family.

There is a HUGE misconception in today’s world: Boys and men are naturally confident, have greater self esteem, and better body images compared to women and are therefore at less of risk for developing eating disorders. This is so far from true. Having negative or distorted body image is the central issue of eating disorders and is a symptom of underlying issues. Men and women alike need to learn new healthier, positive ways of thinking about themselves, such as to learn to accept his or her own body’s flaws and to value ones internal worth over one’s external appearance.

For more information on males and eating disorders, visit the website of The National Association for Males with Eating Disorders, Inc.

References:

• http://www.namedinc.org/ – The National Association for Males with Eating Disorders, Inc.
• Boys and Their Bodies: Recognizing Eating Disorders in Males, Tripp Underwood, January 19 2011, Children’s Hospital Boston Pediatric Health Blog