Men and Eating Disorders About seven million women across the country suffer from eating disorders including anorexia nervosa and bulimia and, as a result most research involving these disorders have only been conducted on females. However, as many as a million men may also suffer from these same disorders. Women are not the only people prone to disliking what they see when they look into the mirror. Now a days more men are worried about their body shape. Clinical reports tell us that one in ten men suffer from eating disorders. More attention needs to be paid to mens eating habits. What eating disorders do men and boys get? Just like girls and women, males get anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervous. Many males describe themselves as compulsive eaters, and they have binge eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa means a nervous loss of appetite. Symptoms are a refusal to maintain body weight or an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. An inability to perceive one's body weight or shape correctly, (Scientific American, http://wwwsciam.com.exploration/1998/033298eating/anorexia.html). An increasingly amount of men are seeking treatment. Just as women with this disorder are often involved in ballet and modeling, males suffer often from wrestling, running or practice similar sports that place a great deal of emphasis on dieting. Bulimia nervosa means to binge eat and the get it out of your system by means of purging. Symptoms are recurrent episodes of binge eating and purging to prevent weight gain. (Scientific American). Men are also seeking treatment for Bulimia. Women in ballet and modeling are also prone to this disorder. Most men in wrestling are affected with this disease instead of anorexia because they... ... middle of paper ... ... eating disorders among males, which has resulted in a number of articles, at least two Internet sites and one book about eating disorders in males. Although there appear to be more similarities than differences between males and females with eating disorders, much can be learned from the differences between the two groups. Gender differences that have emerged in some studies of patients with eating disorders include a higher incidence of homosexuality among males with eating disorders. Extreme pressure to be thin may alone be strong enough to precipitate development of eating disorders. Such added attention to weight and body fat and pressure to diet might be environmental pressures experienced by obese males.(Braun http://www.medscape.com). Further study of eating disorders may determine the treatment and prevention strategies that are most appropriate for males.
The National Institute of Mental Health: Eating Disorders: Facts About Eating Disorders and the Search for Solutions. Pub No. 01-4901. Accessed Feb. 2002.
...Black, D.R.(1988). Male and female college athletes: Prevalence of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Athletic Training, 23, 137-140.
Bulimia nervosa afflicts mostly women (about 6% of adolescent girls, and 5% of college women). Most individuals with bulimia engage in compensatory activities such as vomiting, laxative abuse, strict dieting, and vigorous exercise (Alexander).
When considering the relationship between gender and eating disorders, more than 90 percent of t...
When an individual refuses to eat enough food to maintain a healthy body weight, he or she is dealing with a serious illness known as anorexia nervosa. People with this illness maintain strict control over food intake. About ninety percent of anorexia nervosa cases are women, particularly teenagers. (Alters & Schiff, 2003, p.37). For every one in one hundred that develops this illness, it most commonly evolves in their high school years. The symptoms of anorexia nervosa are:
Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder that is most common in young women. Those who suffer with anorexia have a fear of gaining weight and have an inaccurate portrayal of their own bodies. They see themselves as being fat, even though they are already thin to begin with. They are willing to go to extreme measures to lose weight, but the only outcome is a severely unhealthy body weight. To achieve the weight they want they will either starve themselves or do a tremendous amount of exercise.
These conditions are commonly seen as only affecting females ranging from the middle- to upper-class, and we often imagine sufferers as extremely thin and frail. However, this is an enormous misconception. Although the most common Eating Disorders, Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN) mostly affect females, an estimated 10 to 15%, or 1-2 in every 100 Anorexics and/or Bulimics are males, and Binge Eating Disorder affects both males and females equally (National Eating Disorders Association).
Petri, T., & Stoever S. (1993). The Incidence of Bulimia Nervosa and Pathogenic Weight Control Behaviors in Female College Gymnasts. Research Quarterly in Exercise and Sport , 56, 245-250.
Eating disorders in athletes do not fit neatly into anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, but rather a combination of both. In athletes, anorexia nervosa may often present itself as over-exercising rather than undereating. In the athletic population, it is difficult to define weight a weight loss criteria for an eating disorder dia...
Today, America is plagued with eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Compulsive Eating Disorders. Each has its own characteristics that distinguish the illness yet there are some similarities that they also share. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, as with most mental illnesses, eating disorders are not caused by just one factor but by a combination of behavioral, biological, emotional, psychological, interpersonal and social factors. Shockingly, they also report that in the United States, there are as many as 10 million females and 1 million males that are battling with eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. Additionally, another 25 million are struggling with binge eating disorders (www.NationalEatingDisorders.org). Typically, psychological factors such as depression and low self-esteem contribute to eating disorders...
According to Laura Shapiro, a notable researcher on eating disorders, the medical condition of anorexia consists of several elements. By definition, anorexia nervosa is a condition characterized by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, as well as a distorted body image, and a feeling of loss of control (Shapiro 69).
Bulimia nervosa is a slightly less serious version of anorexia, but can lead to some of the same horrible results. Bulimia involves an intense concern about weight (which is generally inaccurate) combined with frequent cycles of binge eating followed by purging, through self-induced vomiting, unwarranted use of laxatives, or excessive exercising. Most bulimics are of normal body weight, but they are preoccupied with their weight, feel extreme shame about their abnormal behavior, and often experience significant depression. The occurrence of bulimia has increased in many Western countries over the past few decades. Numbers are difficult to establish due to the shame of reporting incidences to health care providers (Bee and Boyd, 2001).
Bulimia nervosa, more commonly known simply as bulimia or binge and purge disorder, is an eating disorder that affects 1 in 4 college-aged women in America, or 1 in 10,000 Americans. The most common misconception concerning bulimia is that it is simply a physical or mental problem. Many people do not understand that bulimia is a disease that affects both the mind and the body, and in its course can destroy both aspects of the diseased individual.
Anorexia Nervosa has three Diagnostic Criteria. One is refusal to maintain body weight at or above normal. The other is, intense fear of becoming fat, even though under average weight. The last one is, Disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self- evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of low body weight (Long 15).
In modern culture, women and men are becoming less satisfied with their body shape. According to a report that was done by the Federal Trade Commission, seventy percent of Americans are either trying not to maintain their weight or are trying to lose weight (Kittleson 75). To compensate for being over weight, an individual will develop an eating disorder. According to Mark Kittleson, eating disorders are when an individual eats way too much or way too little (1). There are three different types of eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. According to Jessica Bennett, twenty-five million people in the United States suffer from binge eating disorder and ten million women and one million men suffer from either anorexia or bulimia. Studies have proven that bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating are set off by social, psychological, relationship or genetic factors; social factors, however, have the greatest impact on men and women.