The American Eating Disorder Association reports that 10 million males will be affected by eating disorders in their lifetime. There is a sense of shame and a stigma that correlates with men and eating disorders. Men are also less likely to seek treatment, by the time they realize they need help their mental health conditions are often more severe.

Strength, dominance, control, and power are all but just some of the words often used to describe men in literature and in the media today. Estimates vary, but it is believed that a quarter to a third of those struggling with eating disorders are male. Disordered eating behaviors are also increasing at a faster rate in males versus females.

Muscularity Obsession

Society tends to focus on the need to be physically perfect exclusively directed at girls, but boys are now receiving just as much pressure. If you look at action figures and their exaggerated muscles in the chest and shoulders, the ideal male body portrays an unrealistic body to a young boy.

About 1 in 7 American men develop an eating disorder before turning 40 (Jama, 2019). Many messages that boys receive about working out to be stronger, faster, and more athletic develop into undue pressure to have a muscular physique. This can evolve into an eating disorder where males are obsessed with being “hypermuscular.”

Muscle dysmorphia, which is commonly known as “bigorexia” is when even when the individual is fit and muscular, they continually feel like they are insufficiently muscular and always attaining more.

In order to increase performance in a male sport, many times that requires a focus on nutrition, exercise, weight, and body image. Male sports such as wrestling are very vulnerable to dieting and working out to an extreme, in order to make a specific weight class, but also to improve their athletic performance.

Research has shown that nearly a third of teen boys in the United States report they want to gain weight and nearly a quarter of boys report taking supplements, steroids, or eating more to bulk up (Current Opinion Pediatrics 2020)

What Needs to Change

One of the biggest improvements that needs to be made is tailoring screening and assessment tools to address how eating disorders may present differently in boys and men. Since some boys or men may present with an obsessive desire for greater muscularity, it is inappropriate that clinicians are using questionnaires that are designed specifically for females.

More education and awareness on eating disorders in males is needed in order for families and friends to be able to monitor if their loved one’s behavior is indeed crossing over into eating disorder behavior.

Even some clinicians may overlook signs of eating disorders in men because many of the symptoms may present differently. Changing the screening measures for the male eating disorder population is the first step to help become more inclusive.