The Boston Globe recently reported that an estimated 1 million American males are the victims of eating disorders such as anorexia (self-starving) and bulimia (bingeing and purging) and they are unlikely to seek help or even to talk about their problem.

Traditionally, women get most of the attention in this area, but doctors who study eating disorders are now saying that men may account for up to one-sixth of people with these disorders. And their ranks are growing, though by how much is hard to estimate.

It seems that men are less likely than women to seek help in this area. In the thirteen years I have been doing this work, I have never had a call from a man asking for help for anorexia or bulimia.

It seems, however, that more and more men are facing body image problems just as the women have done for years. More and more men are taking drastic measures to change their body, ranging from starving themselves to get thin to abusing anabolic steroids to build muscles.

Eating Disorders No Longer a "Female" Problem

By contrast, the rates of anorexia and binge-eating in women have decreased over the past decade, in part because of a massive public education campaign since the death of singer Karen Carpenter from anorexia-related heart failure in 1983. Today, parents are much more watchful for signs of eating disorders among adolescent girls who are most at risk. I think society as a whole still thinks of eating disorders as a "female problem." Not a lot has been said or written about eating disorders among men, even as popular culture puts a growing focus on idealized images of their bodies. For instance, the circulation of Men's Health magazine grew by 600 percent in the 1990s, to 1.5 million copies a month, with a cover that almost invariably showcases half-dressed male models with washboard abdominal muscles and powerful biceps.

I've noticed recently a number of programs on the TV science channels showing men having different procedures done to reshape, change and alter their looks; things such as plastic surgery to get rid of that spare tire or a receding hairline, to change the size or shape of a nose, even having chemical peels to remove wrinkles (and we thought only women worried about those little lines).

As with women, the cultural appeal of certain body shapes and sizes continues to change through the ages. The man who used to be a "hunk" in days past would now be considered overweight or out of shape. Body fat index seems to be the qualifying mark of "hunkability" these days.

No Longer a Hunk?

Unfortunately, anorexia causes more severe complications in men than in women, including severe bone marrow deficiencies that could lead to osteoporosis, according to a study from researchers at the University of Iowa released in June. And binge eaters are in danger of a host of complications, including tooth decay, kidney and gastrointestinal problems, and electrolyte imbalance that could lead to heart failure.

The causes of eating disorders vary widely in men and women, but there are differences between the genders in who is most at risk. For example, men with eating disorders are much more likely than women to have been obese as children. And male binge eaters tend to have much wider weight fluctuations than women. Some studies also indicate that men abused as boys are more likely to become anorexic as a way to suppress their testosterone levels, thus becoming more asexual.

It's sad to say that equality of the sexes appears to be balancing itself out in this one area of American life without any help from us women.