\u201cThe first time I made myself throw up was at age 14.<\/p>\n
It was a Sunday night and my family was in the living room watching television. I sat in my room with a carton of sugar-free chocolate ice cream and a spoon, shoveling every drip of the quickly melting ice cream down my throat.<\/p>\n
Eating in my room had become a daily habit over the years, especially after I started dieting around age 10. That particular week I was on a quick-fix diet that my stepmother had given me. The new diet was supposed to help me lose 10 pounds in one week. I was on day three and starving. I had lost four pounds already.<\/p>\n
I ran to the bathroom to throw up that ice-cream. That would be a lot of calories, I thought to myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
– Zac Stafford, 26,\u00a0survivor of anorexia. He is now a counselor helping boys in Chicago\u00a0recover from eating disorders.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
Just the words \u201ceating disorder,\u201d evoke the image of malnourished teenage girls and young women. But young boys and men\u00a0fall victim to this painful disorder.<\/p>\n
National Eating Disorders Association<\/a> (NEDA) estimates that about up to 90 percent of individuals suffering from eating disorders worldwide are females. But that means thousands of boys and young men, the remaining 10 percent, suffer from these conditions too.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to concern about heart disease, health and obesity, males are getting really distorted messages about their bodies,\u201d says Dr. Theodore Weltzin, an adult psychiatrist at Rogers Behavioral Health System <\/a>in Wisconsin. \u201cAnd they are going to extremes to try to deal with that.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts believe that one of the primary culprits triggering an eating disorder could be the mixed messages that young men get about what constitutes a healthy diet and properly developed body.<\/p>\n \u201cAs strange as it may sound, some boys take \u201cyou\u2019re so skinny\u201d and \u201cyou look like a skeleton\u201d as compliments,\u201d says Rydall Charles, a psychiatrist at University of Chicago <\/a>specializing in eating disorders. \u201cTheir ideas of a healthy body and diet are messed up.\u201d<\/p>\n According to a study in 2004 by the University of Central Florida<\/a>, men are more prone to be influenced by the Wolverine action figure the same way girls are influenced by Barbie.<\/p>\n \u201cThe wolverine caricature has 32-inch biceps,\u201d said Dr. Weltzin. \u201cJust as women feel pressured to look like stick-thin magazine models, men too are swayed by images of pumped-up hunks with broad shoulders, six-pack abs and narrow waists.\u201d<\/p>\n But over-exercising and under-eating can result in eating disorder.<\/p>\n However, eating disorders are not simply a matter of vanity, but have a complicated mental and behavioral progression.\u00a0 Doctors say that the contributing risk factors include genetic vulnerability, psychological factors and socio-cultural influences.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cultural message that getting the \u2018perfect body\u2019 directly relates to success in other areas such as dating, getting a good job and social desirability is a major myth,\u201d explains David Viljoen, a clinical psychologist at Society\u2019s Faculty of Eating Disorders in London.<\/p>\n Perfectionism, bullying, dieting, trauma and childhood obesity are among the common socio-cultural influences that play a role on the development of eating disorders.<\/p>\n Research suggests the number of males with eating disorders is on the rise. According to the American Journal of Psychiatry<\/a>, during the 90s, for every 10-15 women with anorexia or bulimia, there was one man. Today, for every four females with anorexia, there is one male, and for every eight females with bulimia, there is one male, figures that are higher than NEDA’s estimates.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my 20 years of treating eating disorders, I have seen a significant increase in males,\u201d said Dr. Weltzin. \u201cMore than half of these males report body image and problematic exercise behaviors to change their self-perceived inadequacies.\u201d<\/p>\n According to NEDA, approximately 10 percent of eating disordered individual seeking medical help are males. The numbers are likely to be higher among athletes, dancers, gymnasts, models and body builders. Experts term the cause of such eating disorders as \u201coccupational hazards.\u201d<\/p>\n The Eating Disorders Inventory, a diagnostic tool created by eating disorder\u00a0researcher David Garner, found that homosexual men may be at a greater risk for developing an eating disorder because of cultural pressures within the community to be thin.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried to starve myself so I could change myself on the outside because I couldn\u2019t change what I was on the inside,\u201d said 21-year-old Chicago resident Troy, a homosexual who recovered from his life-threatening exercise\/eating disorder in 2009. \u201cAnd then of course there are perfectionism issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Many experts attribute the increasing number of males suffering from eating disorders to\u00a0society\u2019s tendency to glamorize a skinny figure. They say the celebration of an unhealthy body image is more pronounced in Hollywood and the fashion industry.<\/p>\n \u201cThe media puts the beautiful models trying to lose weight on a pedestal,\u201d said Dr. Mae Sokol, a psychiatrist at Children\u2019s Hospital of Omaha<\/a>. \u201cThe glamor industry is less about food and much more about people\u2019s sense of self-esteem and identity.\u201d<\/p>\n Freakishly slim models who starve themselves earn coveted spots on the catwalk. This is primarily the reason why, in 2006, organizers of fashion week in Madrid, Spain, announced that they were banning all models whose body mass index fell below 18.<\/p>\n \u201cFashion is a mirror and many teenagers imitate what they see on the catwalk. We have to draw lines somewhere,\u201d said regional official Concha Guerra in a press release.<\/p>\n Cultural stigma can also make it more difficult for men to come forward and be open about their eating disorder. Lynn Grefe, chief executive of the NEDA, explained that males try to conceal such disorders because such disorders would mean feminine qualities or vulnerability. It is this stigma, she says, that proves to be the biggest obstacle in recovery.<\/p>\n \u201cSociety sees this as a girl\u2019s disease,\u201d said Grefe. \u201cIt\u2019s sad.\u201d<\/p>\n Therapists agree this discomfort in acknowledging that they have such a disease is a major obstacle in recovery. The fear of being perceived as less masculine makes most men shy away from seeking treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cEating disorders have been largely seen as an issue affecting women. That is why men have been far less likely to seek out treatment,\u201d said Dr. Blake Woodside, an eating disorder therapist at University Health Network<\/a>, Canada.<\/p>\n Experts advise parents to remain vigilant to identify any \u201cred flags\u201d that may indicate that their son has a problem because eating disorders can be intensely personal and complicated diseases.<\/p>\nWHAT ARE THE\u00a0 TRIGGERS?<\/h1>\n
![\"Just](\"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/03\/males-disorder-stats.jpg\")
<\/a>LET THE NUMBERS SPEAK<\/h1>\n
MEDIA PROMOTES AN UNHEALTHY IMAGE<\/h1>\n
NOT JUST A GIRL\u2019S PROBLEM<\/h1>\n
WATCH OUT FOR THE SIGNS<\/h1>\n