New research suggests the perception that only women suffer from eating disorders can prevent men from getting help.
Researchers have estimated that one in 250 women and one in 2000 men suffer from anorexia nervosa, a BMJ-British Medical Journal news release reported. The rate of male eating disorders may also be underestimated due to a lack of understanding the signs and symptoms.
The research team interviewed 39 young people between the ages of 16 and 25, 10 of which were male.
The interviews revealed four themes: "recognition of early signs and symptoms; recognition of the problem; getting help; and initial contact with healthcare and support services," the news release reported.
It took all of the men a long time to determine that their behaviors were signs of an eating disorder. These behaviors included; "going days without eating; purging; and obsessive calorie counting, exercise, and weighing. Some also self-harmed and increasingly isolated themselves from others," the news release reported.
The male participants believed the main reason they were having so much trouble recognizing their symptoms was the perception that eating disorders mainly affect young women.
One of the male participants said he thought eating disorders only affected "fragile teenage girls," while another said he thought they were something "only girls got," the news release reported.
Men with eating disorders are underdiagnosed, undertreated and under researched," the authors wrote, the news release reported. The only thing that prompted them to seek help was reaching a crisis point or needing emergency medical attention.
The male participants said they often had to wait a long time for a specialist to examine them. One of the boys was told to "man up" by a doctor.
"Our findings suggest that men may experience particular problems in [recognizing] that they may have an eating disorder as a result of the continuing cultural construction of eating disorders as uniquely or predominantly a female problem," they said.
