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Thursday, May 03, 2007

Survey Shows One in Four People with Eating Disorders Are Males

A new national survey by Harvard University of 3,000 people indicates that eating disorders are more common among males than people may think.

Researchers found that 25% of all those suffering from anorexia and bulimia and 40% of binge eaters are boys and men.

Most people associate eating disorders with females, which is the reason that parents, doctors, coaches and others do not identify such problems in boys. Males with eating disorders have a different motivation. Girls want to be thin and beautiful; boys want to be fit and "buff." Males often develop eating disorders to meet weight requirements for sports like wrestling or for military service.

The researchers also found that males are more likely to be overweight and older than girls are when they develop such disorders.

Labels: sports, motivation, manorexia

Posted By: Aspen Education Group

Comments:

FindCounseling.com on 5/7/2007
We've posted something of a follow-up study by Stanford showing that while as many as one in four people with ED may be men, they often go undiagnosed or are lumped into the "non-specified" category because traditional criteria may miss them: http://www.findcounseling.com/help/news/2007/05/typical_eating_disorder_criteria_miss_males_nonwhites_1.html