10% with eating disorders are men

When members of the Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee go to middle and high schools to teach teenagers about the maladies, they no longer target just girls.

Volunteers used to display a life-size Barbie doll to demonstrate to teenage girls how unrealistic the perfect body image is, said Elizabeth Llewellyn, executive director of Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee.

Now the group is planning to target school-age males by using a life-size GI Joe doll that shows how "it's grossly disproportional almost to the same proportion as the Barbie doll," she said.

"Research is showing eating disorders don't discriminate," Ms. Llewellyn said. "It's on the rise in all (races, genders and sexual orientations)."

While adolescent and younger adult women have struggled with eating disorders, men are fighting the same battle, if not in as many numbers, health officials said.

About 10 percent of people with an eating disorder -- including anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating -- are men, according to research from Eating Disorder Coalition.

But more research suggests those figures are low.

Anorexia now is diagnosed in boys as young as 8, and about 40 percent of all patients with binge-eating disorders are male, according to data from Eating Disorder Hope, a member of the Eating Disorder Coalition.

Because studies and treatment for eating disorders have focused mainly on women, men may be hesitant to come forward and admit they have a problem, said Dr. Veronica Gunn, Tennessee Department of Health chief medical officer.

"We may not be as aware of it (among men) because of that stigmatization," Dr. Gunn said.

One reason for the increase in men could be related to society changing it's messages, Ms. Llewellyn said. The message in society for women has been "be thin" while men were told to "get big and bulk up," she said. It hasn't been until the last couple years that there's been a shift for men to be thin also, she said.

Among athletes, including male gymnasts, dancers, rowers and wrestlers, a large portion of men struggle with an eating disorder because they are required to be a certain weight, said Dr. Jean Cates, psychologist at Chattanooga Lifestyle Center.

Treatment centers have not caught up to the increase in men with eating disorders, and most in-patient clinics only treat women, said Jan Sherbak, director of Solace: Chattanooga Center for the treatment of eating disorders.

"(There are) very few places in the country that treat males," Ms. Sherbak said. "Usually they have to go far away (to get intense treatment.)"

Solace is the only outpatient eating disorder center for both men and women in the state, she said. The center offers an "intensive" 10-week program with nine hours of therapy a week, she said.

But as more people become aware of the problem, more men may be able to get the help they need, Ms. Sherbak said.

"We're treating more (men), so that makes people more aware that it actually does exist, which makes more males come forward," she said.

MALE EATING DISORDER

National survey of more than 11,000 high school students and more than 60,000 adults revealed:

* Among the adults, 38 percent of the women and 24 percent of the men were trying to lose weight

* Among high school students, 44 percent of the women and 15 percent of the men were attempting to lose weight

* Gymnasts, runners, body builders, rowers, wrestlers, jockeys, dancers and swimmers are particularly vulnerable to eating disorders because their sports necessitate weight restriction.

Source: National Eating Disorder Association