Monday, April 21, 2014

Eating Disorders: Silent Epidemic?

I've always thought of eating disorders as a hyper-feminine issue. But they've always intrigued me, and I thought further investigation would be interesting relative to masculine theories.

We've discussed in class that men are also faced with an unrealistic expectation of what their bodies should look like, though it does not have as much emphasis on being uber thin -- more uber muscular. However, according to this document, 10 million males will suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder in America. Additionally, it shows that men are also often dissatisfied with their bodies. And, while I feel like I can go on about the media too much at times, I believe it is a large part of why individuals feel this way, both men and women. The sad fact is that men are less likely to seek help for their problems, which could lead to continued disordered eating and emotional and physical trauma as well. Is this because men are embarrassed of their disorder, because it could be seen as emasculating? I'm not sure what the issue is, though it should be noted that binge eating disorder is one of the more common issues, and that is typically accompanied by weight gain as opposed to loss. It's crazy how different one problem can affect different genders so very differently, yet they are dealing with the same struggle. 

1 comment:

  1. May I re-post your article on my blog giving you credit and a link?
    My blog is http://drkathleenfullereatingdisorders.blogspot.com/
    I post a various views and researched information on eating disorders and health.

    ReplyDelete