Eating Disorders

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             For the past twenty years, personal concerns, preoccupations with weight, shape and appearance, and eating disorders have commonly been called "women issues." Men with these kind of conflicts have felt stigmatized, and they have been largely excluded from diagnosis and treatment. Contrary to public opinion, eating disorders are not exclusive to women or gay men. In most studies, men accounted for one in ten eating disorders cases. "However, recent studies from a large community-based, epidemiological study in Canada indicate that nearly one in six cases are men." (Anderson, Cohn, and Holbrook, 32). Keep in mind, the stigma of having a "women disease" means, many men are not being counted, so this figure remains lower than the actual incidence. "It should not be surprising if closer to 25-30% of eating disordered individuals are male, but there are only hints from early scientific data to confirm that figure. For example, binge eating disorders have an almost equal prevalence in men as in women"(37). There is a broad consensus, however, that eating disorders in males are clinically similar to, if no indistinguishable from, eating disorders in females.
             In order to understand eating disorders, one must understand who is the prime target for eating disorders. "A national survey of 11,467 high school students and 60, 861 adults revealed that among the adults, 38% of the women and 24% of the men were trying to lose weight. Among the high school students, 44% of the females and 15 % of the males were attempting to lose weight" (EDA). Based on a questionnaire administered to 226 college students (98 males and 128 females) concerning weight, body shape, dieting, and exercise history, I found that 26% of the men and 48% of the women described themselves as overweight or having an unappealing body. To be able to make the answers to this questionnaire fair, I attempted to find people of about the same height and weight.