Eating Disorders and Men: Health Story

Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, June 25 and October 22
Show 317

"We usually think of girls and women as having eating and body image disorders, but one 1 million boys and men also have these same issues," says Susan Donahoo, a psychotherapist at Rogers Memorial Hospital who specializes in male eating disorders. "Men have more of a focus on issues of being teased in early childhood," she says. "Athletes are also more vulnerable." In recent years, the number of men with body issues has tripled. Ironically, now the same proportions of men as women have these issues. According to psychiatrist Roberto Olivardia, "One in six persons with an eating disorder is male. Until recently, men have fallen under the radar and were often overlooked." An average anorexic male has the bones of an 80-year-old. And aside from anorexia and bulimia, there is a condition called muscle dysmorphia, a preoccupation with being muscular. Excessive workouts can be a sign of an image disorder. In the past two decades, 50 percent more men are being treated for eating and body image disorders.