When most people think of someone with an eating disorder, they usually picture a female. After all, clinical reports say that nine out of every 10 patients with an eating disorder is a woman. Right? Wrong. Many researchers theorize that the true numbers of men with eating disorders are much higher, and that a large but unreported number of these men are athletes.
Some professionals believe that one reason male eating disorders are under-identified is that they’re less likely to seek professional help, making it harder to get precise statistics for them. Additionally, most eating disorder assessments were created for females so professionals may miss some of the nuances more common to men.
Are you curious about how females and males differ in the development of an eating disorder? One difference is that men are inclined to gain more weight before they become overly concerned about weight and at risk for developing an eating disorder, as opposed to women, who tend to become troubled with their weight regardless of whether they have recently gained weight.
It is also common for men to become quite concerned about “healthy eating” and this can be taken too far. It can begin by cutting out high fructose corn syrup and trans fats and doing extra workouts. For someone developing an eating disorder, these healthy habits can get out of hand and become compulsive. These disorders are entirely treatable and it’s much easier if the disorder is recognized earlier.
(Reference: Weisensee, Kimberly. “Male eating disorders may be more common than we think.” Medill Reports Chicago. 2/4/09. Medill School publications. 2/9/09.)
Dillon Nadler is a freshman at Dos Pueblos High.