Boys Have Become More Susceptible to Eating Disorders: STUDY

A recent study confirmed that men, like women, are now more susceptible to eating disorders.

The study which was published in JAMA Pediatrics proves that eating disorders can be experienced by both men and women due to their obsession with body size and weight. Researchers involved in the study found that approximately 20 percent of boys between the age of 12 and 18 are overly concerned with their bodies.

"Male eating disorders are greatly underestimated for two reasons," the lead study author, Alison Field, ScD, of Boston Children's Hospital Adolescent Medicine Division said. "Anorexia and bulimia - the disorders we studied - are traditionally associated with a desire to be thin, a standard that men generally don't aspire to, and many are ashamed to seek treatment because the disorders are deemed a female problem." Field and her colleagues reviewed the responses of participants which they gathered through questionnaires. Teens involved in the study were asked to respond to surveys that took place every 12 to 36 months from 1999 to 2010.

Based on their findings, Field and her co-authors concluded that boys were more interested in masculinity rather than thinness with 9.2 percent of males reporting high concerns with masculinity compared with the 2.5 percent who are merely concerned about thinness. They found that 6.3 percent were concerned with both aspects of appearance.

"Clinicians may not be aware that some of their male patients are so preoccupied with their weight and shape that they are using unhealthy methods to achieve the physique they desire, and parents are not aware that they should be as concerned about eating disorders and an excessive focus on weight and shape in their sons as in their daughters," Field said.