Males represent one of the most universally ignored study groups when it comes to eating disorders, and best estimates, not the ones used in media, are that it is 1/4 that suffer from them. It looks different in them and goes unnoticed and undiagnosed by professionals as such. For men, it is a common trait that trying to be leaner, more muscular, or “cut weight” for looks, performance, or sports, is socially understood and accepted, thus eating disorders get missed. Most “thin obsessed body norms” for men may look “normal” when in reality the men are just as unhealthily obsessed with the number on the scale and how their body looks as any woman suffering from anorexia. This is why professionals need to be more alert and more research needs to go into understanding and treatment of men with eating disorders, as they present so much differently, and professionals often fail to see the symptoms.
Key Points:
- 1Males do NOT present like females with eating disorders.
- 2Males with eating disorders are less likely to be diagnosed and their symptoms are dismissed out of hand simply because of their gender.
- 3Body dissatisfaction in males is typically characterized by a drive for muscularity rather than a drive for thinness.
The problem is males with eating disorders are less likely to be diagnosed and their symptoms are dismissed out of hand simply because of their gender.
Read the full article at: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/males-dont-present-like-females-with-eating-disorders
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