Most people are familiar with the eating disorders of anorexia and bulimia, but if asked the majority would probably associate these disorders mainly with women. A new study has revealed that men are also increasingly suffering from these same eating disorders.
Anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders that have been in the collective consciousness for at least the last twenty years. Newspapers and magazines often report on the terrible and harrowing effects that these disorders can have on women and young girls, but less is reported about the same conditions when they affect men.
A new study from King’s College London and the UCL Institute of Child Health has revealed that there has been a 15% leap in the number of eating disorders that have been diagnosed by GPs in the last ten years. While this increase is high in itself, it is almost doubled when broken down into the cases affecting men, with the figure jumping to 27%.
The findings of this study have also been backed up by figures released by the NHS who have reported a 66% increase in the number of males being admitted to hospital suffering from some form of eating disorder in the last decade.
These disorders which have traditionally been considered to mainly affect women are now becoming more prevalent in males as men are said to be becoming increasingly conscious of their bodies. Whereas women often feel under pressure to imitate the skinny images of models, movie stars and celebrities, it appears as though men are also feeling the pressure to achieve the perfect body of sick-pack and bulging biceps.
It is this pressure which a spokesman from the charity Beat believes is the main cause for the rapid rises that have been reported.
She said: “The pressure these days on guys to have the perfect figure is very similar to that which has and continues to affect women.
‘It’s all about losing body fat and getting a six pack, and it comes from the way the male shape is portrayed.”
One of the main reasons why this problem has not been fully appreciated in males up until now is because men are more likely to suffer from bulimia rather than anorexia. Whilst both disorders can be equally destructive, bulimia is harder to recognise as the sufferer may not show such obvious signs of ill-health as somebody who is clearly losing a lot of weight due to anorexia.
Another factor that could attribute to the sudden rise in the number of male cases is the simple fact that GPs have also been slow to recognise these problems in men as they are so heavily associated with females.
The spokesman from Beat added: “We need GPs to be much more aware of the fact that males also these days are experiencing problems with eating disorders. They are not as good at recognising the symptoms in men as they should be.
‘It can be because men are much more reluctant to talk about these issues or to admit there is a problem.
‘There is a stigma about it – it is seen as a teenage girls’ disease. But eating disorders are serious psychological conditions which can kill.
Beat estimates that there over 1.5 million people suffering with eating disorders in the UK, with one in 5 of these being men. A lot of hard work may have already been done to counter this problem, but it is clear from these findings that there is still clearly a very long way to go.
By Alisha Webb. Alisha is a British writer and content developer for Forest Healthcare – providing various types of care from stroke to dementia.