Eating Disorders in Males (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Psychology - Clinical Psychology, Psychopathology, Prevention, ( Atlantic International University ), language: English, abstract: It is generally accepted that eating disorders are a serious concern among women but we are faced with a severe lack of research into the prevalence of men struggling with their body image. Sadly, many doctors still do not recognize cases of eating disorders in men with the result that fewer than 5% of all referrals to specialist eating disorder clinics are male (Morgan: 2008).

Pollack (1999) discovered that at Harvard Medical School, there is increasing evidence that many men (and probably boys too) are becoming increasingly obsessed with their bodies. Men are beginning to diet in unprecedented numbers with an estimated one million of them suffering from eating disorders (Luciano: 2002). This figure of one million is perceived to be understated as males with eating disorders are for too often under diagnosed.

Andersen et al. (2000) confirms that eating disorders in males has been overlooked and in some treatment centres, the ratio of men to women has changed over the past ten years from almost entirely women to 50:50. In Psychology Today magazine in 1997, an amazing 43%, nearly half of the men in the survey reported that they were dissatisfied with their overall appearance. Of those men surveyed, 63% were dissatisfied with their abdomen, 52% with their weight, 55% with their muscle tone and 38% with their chest (Pope et al: 2000).

There does not seem to be a specific age at which men develop eating disorders, with sufferers as young as eight years old and eating disorders usually appearing around 14-25 years of age (B-eat). Children as young as two years old have already developed damaging eating habits, this can lead to eating disorders as the child ages, with 52,17% of eating disorders persisting into adulthood (Sancho et al: 2007). Morgan (2008) explains that eating disorders and body image problems develop slowly and subtly, but once you start to use eating habits and exercise as a means of dealing with distressing emotions, then there may be a problem. In a Brief History of Eating Disorders (2009) we find that after puberty, one million boys and men will have eating disorders; this coupled with Paterson's statement that 'on average, it seems to be approximately six years before men [or boys] will seek help'...