When you think about eating disorders, who do you think of? Chances are that you think of women as a whole regardless of the end of the spectrum that they might be on. However, one in ten people that have an eating disorder will be a male. Read on to find out more about men and eating disorders in this article.
Key Takeaways:
- Despite most information about eating disorders coming from studies of women, about 25% of diagnosable cases of eating disorders occur in men.
- Because males are less likely to have mood disorders, they are also less likely to be driven towards body insecurities, thinness, and eating disorders.
- Clinicians need to better understand and recognize clinical characteristics of the male eating disorder patient, as they may present with differences form the female patient.
“As is, unfortunately, easy to imagine, it is suggested that under reporting is a result of stigma, lack of sensitivity and detection, and gendered perceptions of eating dieting. The lower occurrence of eating disorders in males may, however, also be attributed to gendered differences in the risk and maintaining factors for eating disorders .”