Fat positivity, BMI and some surveys

I am torn on the issue of fat positivity. I get what feminist do and how they try to help people, but sometimes I get the feeling health issues are overlooked. Here is some stuff I found via reddit:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-03/health/31280839_1_obesity-bmi-body-composition

Body-mass index BMI, the 200-year-old formula widely used by medical experts, health insurers and the fitness industry, may be categorising almost half of women and just over 20 per cent of men as healthy when their body-fat composition suggests they are obese, a US new study has found. [...]

To measure fatness, they used a costly diagnostic test called dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, or DXA, and calculated subjects' level of obesity based on fat-composition standards used by the American Society of Bariatric Physicians.

The results also suggest that the BMI is a poor measure of fatness in men - but not always in a way that underestimates their obesity. In all, 20 per cent of the study's men shifted from normal and healthy into the obese column under the new measure.

But far more frequently than was the case among women, men who were obese by the BMI standard were reclassified as normal and healthy when they were measured with the DXA.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7771450

Abstract Obesity, android fat distribution, and other anthropometric measures have been associated with coronary heart disease in long-term prospective studies. However, fluctuations in weight due to age-related hormonal changes and changes in lifestyle practices may bias relative risk estimates over a long follow-up period. The authors prospectively studied the association between body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2), waist-to-hip ratio, and height as independent predictors of incident coronary heart disease in a 3-year prospective study among 29,122 US men aged 40-75 years in 1986. The authors documented 420 incident coronary events during the follow-up period. Body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, short stature, and weight gain since age 21 were associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. Among men younger than 65, after adjusting for other coronary risk factors, the relative risk was 1.72 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10-2.69) for men with BMI of 25-28.9, 2.61 (95% CI 1.54-4.42) for BMI of 29.0-32.9, and 3.44 (95% CI 1.67-7.09) for obese men with BMI > or = 33 compared with lean men with BMI < 23.0. Among men > or = 65 years of age, the association between BMI and risk of coronary heart disease was much weaker. However, in this age group, the waist-to-hip ratio was a much stronger predictor of risk (relative risk = 2.76, 95% CI 1.22-6.23 between extreme quintiles). These results suggest that for younger men, obesity, independent of fat distribution, is a strong risk factor for coronary heart disease. For older men, measures of fat distribution may be better than body mass index at predicting risk of coronary disease.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7988316

RESULTS: We found a strong positive association between overall obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI) and risk of diabetes. Men with a BMI of > or = 35 kg/m2 had a multivariate RR of 42.1 (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.0-80.6) compared with men with a BMI < 23.0 kg/m2. BMI at age 21 and absolute weight gain throughout adulthood were also significant independent risk factors for diabetes. Fat distribution, measured by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), was a good predictor of diabetes only among the top 5%, while waist circumference was positively associated with the risk of diabetes among the top 20% of the cohort. ----------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18830075 RECENT FINDINGS: Current epidemiologic evidence suggests that waist circumference and waist-hip ratio, as indicators of abdominal adiposity, are positively related to coronary heart disease in men and women independently of body mass index and conventional coronary heart disease risk factors. But the magnitude and shape of the associations for these abdominal adiposity indices varied with adjustments for mediating and confounding factors. Interestingly, hip waist circumference was inversely associated with coronary heart disease after adjusting for waist circumference. Because waist and hips are positively correlated but have separate and opposite associations with coronary disease, using waist circumference alone may provide underestimated risk estimate if hip girth is not accounted for in the calculation of this risk. ----------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9098178 Abstract Obesity is an established risk factor for non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Anthropometric measures of overall and central obesity as predictors of NIDDM risk have not been as well studied, especially in women. Among 43,581 women enrolled in the Nurses' Health Study who in 1986 provided waist, hip, and weight information and who were initially free from diabetes and other major chronic diseases, NIDDM incidence was followed from 1986 to 1994. After adjustment for age, family history of diabetes, smoking, exercise, and several dietary factors, the relative risk of NIDDM for the 90th percentile of body mass index (BMI) (weight (kg)/height (m)2) (BMI = 29.9) versus the 10th percentile (BMI = 20.1) was 11.2 (95% confidence interval (CI) 7.9-15.9). Controlling for BMI and other potentially confounding factors, the relative risk for the 90th percentile of waist: hip ratio (WHR) (WHR = 0.86) versus the 10th percentile (WHR = 0.70) was 3.1 (95% CI 2.3-4.1), and the relative risk for the 90th percentile of waist circumference (36.2 inches or 92 cm) versus the 10th percentile (26.2 inches or 67 cm) was 5.1 (95% CI 2.9-8.9). BMI, WHR, and waist circumference are powerful independent predictors of NIDDM in US women. Measurement of BMI and waist circumference (with or without hip circumference) are potentially useful tools for clinicians in counseling patients regarding NIDDM risk and risk reduction.

Discouraging boys

I nice post over body image from here, found via the gmp:

Boys are discouraged from open acknowledgement of doubts, insecurities and fears. Fears of self-disclosure and the secrets of one’s shameful inferiorities- physical, sexual, emotional- breed social and emotional isolation. In their mutual silence about common concerns, they lose the opportunity for social amelioration and modulation of shameful experience.

Body Image - Google-fu edition...

So due to a recent post on NSWATM I tried searching for data on body image again and see what I came up with. Expect walls of text:

On body satisfaction, self esteem & co:

The relationships of body satisfaction, self-esteem, dieting, and exercise were studied in 92 men and women. Men and women did not differ in degree of body dissatisfaction as assessed by three different measures. However, on the direction of body dissatisfaction, men were as likely to want to be heavier as thinner, whereas virtually no women wished to be heavier. Although overall body esteem was correlated with self-esteem for both men and women, measures of weight dissatisfaction were not associated with self-esteem for women. The normative nature of weight dissatisfaction for women today may serve to buffer its effects on self-esteem. Women reported exercising for weight control more than men, and exercising for weight control was associated with disregulated eating. - Behavioral and psychological implications of body dissatisfaction: Do men and women differ? Lisa R. Silberstein, Ruth H. Striegel-Moore, Christine Timko and Judith Rodin


The present study examined body image and associated psychological traits in 154 college men. The comprehensive battery of measures included a novel computerized test of body image perception, the Somatomorphic Matrix, in which subjects could navigate through a range of body images, spanning a wide range of body fat and muscularity, to answer various questions posed by the computer. Subjects also completed paper-and-pencil instruments assessing depression, characteristics of eating disorders, self-esteem, and use of performance-enhancing substances. Findings suggest that contemporary American men display substantial body dissatisfaction and that this dissatisfaction is closely associated with depression, measures of eating pathology, use of performance-enhancing substances, and low self-esteem. Muscle belittlement, believing that one is less muscular than he is, presented as an important construct in the body dissatisfaction of men. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) - Biceps and Body Image: The Relationship Between Muscularity and Self-Esteem, Depression, and Eating Disorder Symptoms. - Olivardia, Roberto;Pope Jr., Harrison G.;Borowiecki III, John J.;Cohane, Geoffrey H. - Psychology of Men & Masculinity, Vol 5(2), Jul 2004, 112-120


Both scientific research and popular attention have begun to focus on the neglected issue of body image in boys. We reviewed the findings of this emerging literature. Using computer and manual search techniques, we located 17 studies that assessed body image attitudes in boys under age 18. We located 17 studies, most performed within the last 10 years. Eight studies used exclusively questionnaires or interviews; the rest also used figure drawings from which the subjects could choose specific images in answer to questions. Although boys generally displayed less overall body concern than girls, many boys of all ages reported dissatisfaction with their bodies, often associated with reduced self-esteem. Whereas girls typically wanted to be thinner, boys frequently wanted to be bigger. However, most studies failed to distinguish between “bigness” due to increased muscle and that due to fat. Body image dissatisfaction in boys is common and often associated with distress. To better assess this phenomenon, future studies should take care to separate the indices of muscle and fat. - Body image in boys: A review of the literature - Geoffrey H. Cohane, Harrison G. Pope Jr


Dissatisfaction with body image is thought to be a key factor in the etiology of eating disorders among women. In contrast, men are reported to be generally satisfied with their body weight and body shape. The present survey study examined the relative desire for thinness or weight gain among 226 male and female freshman students. Most 18-year-old women (85%) wished to lose weight. Men expressed conflicting views regarding desire for thinness and were almost evenly split between those who wanted to lose weight (40%) and those who wished to gain weight (45%). The proportion of men and women who expressed no desire for weight change was comparable. Men and women who wished to lose weight shared negative body perceptions: both groups viewed themselves as overweight, and both expressed dissatisfaction with body shape. However, men used exercise for weight control while women resorted to restricted calorie diets. A key risk factor for eating disorders may be dieting itself. - Men and body image: are males satisfied with their body weight? - A Drewnowski and DK Yee


OBJECTIVE: The authors tested the hypothesis that men in modern Western societies would desire to have a much leaner and more muscular body than the body they actually had or perceived themselves to have. METHOD: The height, weight, and body fat of college-aged men in Austria (N=54), France (N=65), and the United States (N=81) were measured. Using the somatomorphic matrix, a computerized test devised by the authors, the men chose the body image that they felt represented 1) their own body, 2) the body they ideally would like to have, 3) the body of an average man of their age, and 4) the male body they believed was preferred by women. The men’s actual fat and muscularity was compared with that of the four images chosen. RESULTS: Only slight demographic and physical differences were found among the three groups of men. Modest differences were found between the men’s measured fat and the fat of the images chosen. However, measures of muscularity produced large and highly significant differences. In all three countries, men chose a ideal body that was a mean of about 28 lb (13 kg) more muscular than themselves and estimated that women preferred a male body about 30 lb (14 kg) more muscular than themselves. In a pilot study, however, the authors found that actual women preferred an ordinary male body without added muscle. CONCLUSIONS: The wide discrepancy between men’s actual muscularity and their body ideals may help explain the apparent rise in disorders such as muscle dysmorphia and anabolic steroid abuse.

[...]

the literature on body image perception in men is far more limited, and the available scales are less well developed (3–6). However, accumulating evidence suggests that many men also suffer from disorders characterized by altered perceptions of their bodies. For example, in two studies, both American men (7) and European men (8) with eating disorders rated themselves as feeling significantly fatter than subjects without eating disorders. Also, recent studies of athletes have described a converse syndrome: men who perceive themselves as small and frail when in fact they are large and muscular. We have previously called this syndrome "reverse anorexia nervosa" (9) and have subsequently renamed it "muscle dysmorphia" (10). Individuals with muscle dysmorphia may exhibit striking psychiatric morbidity. For example, they may refuse to allow their bodies to be seen in public settings; they may relinquish important social, recreational, or occupational activities to work out compulsively at the gym; and they may abuse anabolic steroids in an attempt to overcome their chronic preoccupation that they look too small.
Given these observations of men with various forms of body image pathology, it is of interest to assess body image perception in unselected groups of men. In recent decades, men in Western societies have been exposed through the media to an increasingly lean and muscular male body ideal (11, 12). Therefore, we hypothesized that in both the United States and Europe, men would desire to have a body much leaner and more muscular than the body that they actually had or the body that they perceived themselves to have. We also hypothesized that men would think that women in their societies preferred a very lean and muscular male body. We believed, however, that men’s estimates of women’s preferences might differ from women’s actual preferences. - Body Image Perception Among Men in Three Countries - 2000


Research shows that today’s college men are reporting greater levels of body dissatisfaction, and this is true for both gay and heterosexual men

Males associate their attractiveness with increased muscle definition, and are concerned about body shape (as opposed to weight) and increasing their muscle mass (Knowlton, 1995; University of Iowa Health Care, 2002)
Eating disorders in males typically involve a constant competition to stay more defined than other men (University of Iowa Health Care, 2002)

Gay and heterosexual men have equivalent levels of body esteem, satisfaction with body shape, and desired levels of thinness (Yelland Tiggermann, 2003). However, gay men are more likely than heterosexual men to be treated for eating disorders

Disordered eating and exercising behaviors among men are associated with obsessive feelings of inadequacy, unattractiveness, and failure

The viewing and purchasing of muscle and fitness magazines was associated with body dissatisfaction in both gay and heterosexual men (Duggan & McCreary, 2004)

Gay and heterosexual men involved in sports that emphasize strict body weight adherence (such as swimmers, runners, wrestlers, and jockeys) are at higher risk for developing eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia (Ennis, Drewnowski, & Grinker, 1987; Knowlton, 1995) - Source

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Evolution of the ideal for male bodies and the media:

Abstract: Objective: We sought to assess whether cultural ideals of the male body, as illustrated by magazine models, have changed over the past 25 years. Method:We examined 115 male centerfold models in Playgirl magazine from 1973 to 1997. Using the models’ heights and weights quoted by the magazine, together with visual estimates of body fat, we
calculated the body mass index (BMI) and fat-free mass index (FFMI) of each model. Results: The Playgirl centerfold models became increasingly “dense” and more muscular over time, as indicated by the significant correlations between BMI, FFMI, and year of publication. Discussion: These observations, in combination with previous studies, suggest that cultural norms of the ideal male body are growing increasingly muscular.

[...]

Fewer studies have examined the evolution of society’s ideal for the male body. In one study of male and female magazines for 18–24-year-olds, Andersen and DiDomenico (1992) found that men’s magazines published significantly more advertisements and articles about changing body shape than about losing weight, suggesting that men might be
more concerned with overall physique than with fat. Another study found that between 1980 and 1991, men’s fashion magazines printed an increasing number of articles on men’s weight and health concerns (Nemeroff, Stein, Diehl, & Smilack, 1994). A third study noted a trend for the greater use of young male bodies in fashion magazines and in
marketing a variety of products (Davis, Shapiro, Elliot, & Dionne, 1993). In another study examining the evolution of boys’ action toys, Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, and Borowiecki (1999) found that figures such as GI Joe have become increasingly muscular over time, with many contemporary figures having physiques more muscular than is humanly
attainable.

These trends in cultural ideals for body image may contribute to psychopathology. Among women, it has been hypothesized that cultural ideals of thinness may contribute to the rising prevalence of eating disorders (Garner et al., 1980; Wiseman et al., 1992). Among men, cultural ideals of muscularity may contribute to lower self-esteem about the body (Blouin & Goldfield, 1995; Pope, Gruber, Choi, Olivardia, & Phillips, 1997; Leit, 1998)
and possibly to abuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids (Pope & Katz, 1994). To augment the available data on trends in cultural ideals of male body image, we followed the strategy of Garner et al. (1980) and Wiseman et al. (1992) described above, but instead examined the dimensions of Playgirl centerfold models over the magazine’s 25-year history.

- Cultural Expectations of Muscularity in Men: The Evolution of Playgirl Centerfolds - Richard A. Leit, Harrison G. Pope, Jr. and James J. Gray


We hypothesized that the physiques of male action toys — small plastic figures used by children in play — would provide some index of evolving American cultural ideals of male body image. Method: We obtained examples of the most popular American action toys manufactured over the last 30 years. We then measured the waist, chest, and bicep circumference of each figure and scaled these measurements using classical allometry to the height of an actual man (1.78 m). Results: We found that the figures have grown much more muscular over time, with many contemporary figures far exceeding the muscularity of even the largest human bodybuilders. Discussion: Our observations appear to represent a “male analog” of earlier studies examining female dolls, such as Barbie. Together, these studies of children’s toys suggest that cultural expectations may contribute to body image disorders in both sexes.
- Evolving Ideals of Male Body Image as Seen Through Action Toys - 1999



Hypotheses regarding contemporary men’s body image distress have been presented by researchers in the field of psychology. It appears that the media plays a significant role in this by presenting the public with unrealistic images of the ideal male body. Consider the following:

GI Joe is to boys what Barbie is to girls (Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, & Borowiecki, 1999). Over the past 20 years, these G.I. Joe toys have grown more muscular and currently have sharper muscle definition. The GI Joe Extreme action figure, if extrapolated to a height of 5’10”, would have larger biceps than any bodybuilder in history.
A Playgirl centerfold model of 1976 would need to shed 12 lbs of fat and gain 27 lbs of muscle to be a centerfold of today (Leit, Pope, & Gray, 2001).

In addition, the male body is increasingly being objectified and sexualized in popular print ads. For example, advertisements promoting weight lifting, exercise products, and underwear present the model as dehumanized (the gaze of male model is not at viewer) and the body is objectified (bodies are shown in parts, such as from the shoulders down). Additionally, the naked male body is increasingly portrayed in magazines targeted towards women and gay men.

The drive for muscularity

The Drive for Muscularity – a concept operationalized by psychologist Dr. Don McCreary – represents an individual’s perception that (1) he is not muscular enough, and (2) bulk should be added to his body frame (McCreary & Sasse, 2000).

Research shows that young men tend to see themselves as thinner and less muscular than they actually are. In contrast to women with body image concerns, who typically seek to shed pounds and achieve a specific body weight, men with body image concerns want to bulk up. Because men are socialized not to discuss their body image concerns, their silent anguish may lead to feelings of isolation, distress, depression, and anxiety. The Drive for Muscularity in young men has been associated with low self esteem, neuroticism, and perfectionism (Davis, Karvinen, & McCreary, 2005).

The drive for muscularity becomes pathological when it causes significant distress and interferes with social and occupational functioning. Any of the following signs are cause for concern:

Neglecting school, work, family, or friends to spend more time at the gym
Persistent fear and anxiety of appearing too small
The use of steroids or other performance enhancing drugs

- Source



In the study, published in the February issue of Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, researchers had nearly 160 male college students watch an old episode of Family Feud, but they were divided into two groups that saw different commercials during the show.

One group saw ads for financial, telephone, and automobile companies that featured men over age 30 dressed in business or casual attire in a home or business setting. The other group saw commercials that featured muscular, young, and bare-chested men hawking cologne or deodorant.

Researchers found the men who saw the buff male model ads reported feeling more depressed and less satisfied with their own muscles than the men who saw the neutral ads. - Source

More on the ugliness penalty for men

I already blogged about this, apparently there is more:

A team at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg in northern Germany questioned more than 3,000 people about their career, and compared this with rankings of how attractive they were.

The results suggest that being one point more attractive was worth a three percent wage hike, while being five points more attractive boosted a career by the same amount as having a university degree.

Professor Christian Pfeifer said his study, published this week in the Applied Economics Letters journal, also showed that the importance of looks in the workplace was even more important for men than it was for women.

Act surprised people. Found via Typhonblue on Reddit. Thanks.

Men's health covers

God, I need those abs....

(Not really, it is just cosmo for men)

Sometimes I just like to cite Hugo Schwyzer....

*Sigh* I usually do not agree with that guy, but when he has a point, he has a point:

Women are shamed for their sexuality in a way that men aren’t. That has innumerable consequences. For example, we raise women to be objects of desire. This is where we get the famous Paris Paradox (which goes back long before Paris Hilton), where girls learn how to be sexy long before they discover their own sexuality.

At the same time, we raise boys to believe their bodies aren’t as beautiful, as desirable, as appealing as those of girls. Boys get to be sexual, but too rarely get to trust that they’re wanted, lusted for, desired. Girls are much more visual and much more sexual than we admit; boys “long to be longed for” to a far greater extent than we realize.

Study shows why underrepresented men should be included in binge eating research

Also via NSWATM I believe. The study in question:

As so few studies have included men there is concern that men may be reluctant to seek treatment, or health care providers may be less likely detect a disorder in a male patient, because eating disorders are widely seen as female problems. Health services report that the number of men who receive treatment for binge eating is well below what would be expected based on estimates of prevalence.
Dr Striegel's team used cross-sectional data from a sample of 21743 men and 24608 women who participated in a health risk self-assessment screening. The team analyzed any differences within the group for obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, depression and work productivity impairment.

The team found that out the 46351 people questioned 1630 (7%) men and 2754 (11%) women were found to binge eat, defined as experiencing at last one binge episode in the past month. The impact on clinical and mental health as a result of binge eating was found to be comparable between men and women.

This study also indicated that binge eating has an impact on work productively in both men and women, suggesting the need for employers to recognize binge eating as a damaging health risk behavior alongside stress or depression.
"The underrepresentation of men in binge eating research does not reflect lower levels of impairment in men versus women," concluded Striegel. "Efforts are needed to raise awareness of the clinical implications of binge eating for men so they can seek appropriate screening and treatment."

Attractive Women May Be Less Likely to Get Hired

Interesting article, do women discriminate against themsevles? Apperently in some cases they do:

The study involved sending 5,312 resumes in pairs to 2,656 advertised job openings in Israel. In each pair, one resume was without a picture while the second, otherwise almost identical resume, contained a picture of either an attractive male or female, or a plain-looking male or female.

[...] The results showed that the resumes of "attractive" males received a 19.9 percent response rate, nearly 50 percent higher than the 13.7 percent response rate for "plain" males and more than twice the 9.2 percent response rate of no-picture males.

[...] "Among female candidates, no-picture females have the highest response rate, 22 percent higher than plain females and 30 percent higher than attractive females. Our findings on penalization of attractive women contradict current psychology and organizational behavior literature on beauty that associate attractiveness, male and female alike, with almost every conceivable positive trait and disposition," explain the authors, Bradley Ruffle, a professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Ph.D candidate Ze'ev Shtudiner.

[...] However, when the corporation at which the candidate might work recruited directly, attractive females received a response rate of about half that of plain and no-picture women. This is likely due to the high number of women in human resources staffing positions, the researchers conclude.

To verify this stereotype, the researchers conducted a post-experiment survey in which they spoke with the person at the company who screens candidates. That person was female in 24 of the 25 (96 percent) of the companies they interviewed. Moreover, these woman were young (ranging in age from 23 to 34 with an average age of 29) and typically single (67 percent) -- qualities more likely to be associated with a jealous response when confronted with a young, attractive competitor in the workplace.

"Indeed, the evidence points to female jealousy of attractive women in the workplace as a primary reason for their penalization in recruitment," Ruffle said.

Who would have thought...

The ugliness penalty - worse for men

Hattip to reddit. Looks affect your earning potential. I have certainly heard that one before, apparently it affects men even more so. Consider me surprised. An article about Daniel S. Hamermesh book Beauty Pays:

[Beauty Pays] attempts to explain why attractive people make more money than unattractive people. A lot more money, in fact: $230,000 over the course of a lifetime, which holds true even in professions where looks wouldn’t seem to matter. Hamermesh found that fetching professors, for example, earn 6 percent more than their average-looking peers, while unattractive quarterbacks earn 12 percent less than their hunkier counterparts. Men, in fact, suffer the greater repulsiveness penalty in general: Unattractive women earn 3 percent less than average-looking women, while unattractive men’s take-home is reduced a whopping 22 percent.

But wait—how can something as subjective as beauty hold any value in an economic context? Therein lies the cold truth at the heart of these findings: A common standard of beauty does exist. Based on an attractiveness scale of one to five, most people surveyed will come to near agreement on a test subject’s looks, a finding that holds true across all cultures. And while extreme beauty and extreme ugliness are rare, 10 to 15 percent or so of the population falls into the “below-average attractiveness” category, where they will endure their pronounced asymmetries as long as they live. Beauty is not only scarce, it turns out, but unobtainable to those born without it: Studies show that homeliness is approximately as easy to change as race, which is to say, it’s not.

Interesting. Also an older study by Hamermesh google dug out.

Eating disorders in men

As usual, there is a quite large stack of links to go through after the weekend....so here we start. Hattip to reddit for that one:

For years, eating disorders have been viewed as a “white woman’s disease.” And estimates of male eating disorders told a similar story: while the majority of women suffered from eating disorders, only about 10 percent of men did.

Recent research, however, paints a different, bigger picture: more men are suffering from eating disorders than previously thought. Out of 3,000 people with anorexia and bulimia, 25 percent were men (and 40 percent had binge eating disorder), according to a Harvard study.

[...] The diagnostic criteria for anorexia, for instance, focus on women, which is evident in its hallmark symptoms of amenorrhea (the absence of menstruation) and fear of fatness. Though some men do exhibit a fear of fat, others typically want to be muscular (particularly their chest and arms), obsess over attaining a low body fat percentage and focus their efforts on excelling at a sport (which prompts some to abuse steroids and exercise excessively).

Instead of engaging in traditional compensatory behaviors like vomiting or abusing laxatives, men instead are more likely to exercise compulsively (as cited in Weltzin, Weisensel, Franczyk, Burnett, Klitz & Bean, 2005).

[...] men are also feeling the pressure for physical perfection, surrounded by unattainable images of muscular physiques, six-pack abs, bulging biceps and lean bodies.

But, in contrast to women, where the images are one size fits all (thin is always in), men have a variety of images to emulate, psychiatrist Arnold Andersen, M.D., told The Wall Street Journal:

“Some want to be wiry like Mick Jagger; some want to be lean like David Beckham, and some want to be really buff and bulked, like Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

[...] Men might diet for different reasons than women, including (as cited in Greenberg & Schoen, 2008):

- to prevent weight gain (many eating disordered men were overweight as kids).
- excel in sports. (jockeys, wrestlers, distance runners, gymnasts)
- avoid health complications.
- improve appearance after childhood teasing.
- for their jobs (military)

Not surprisingly, these differences make it harder for professionals to diagnose eating disorders in men. And, oftentimes men are unaware that they’re suffering from an eating disorder in the first place.

[..] Eating disorders are more prevalent in gay and bisexual men than in heterosexual men (Feldman & Meyer, 2007), though one expert attributes the higher prevalence to a greater likelihood to seek treatment.

And as usual:

Since eating disorders are known as a woman’s disease, men might be embarrassed to seek treatment, worried that they’d be seen as less of a man. Because male eating disorders have only recently received attention, many treatment centers don’t have separate services that treat men.

Reminds me so much of the DV situation....really.

We raise boys to believe that their bodies are dirty and gross.

While I don't often agree with Hugo Schwyzer, he has a point here:

So many straight men have no experience of being wanted. So many straight men have no experience of sensing a gaze of outright longing. Even many men who are wise in the world and in relationships, who know that their wives or girlfriends love them, do not know what it is to be admired for their bodies and their looks. They may know what it is to be relied upon, they may know what it is to bring another to ecstasy with their touch, but they don’t know what it is to be found not only aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but worthy of longing.

[...]

We raise boys to believe that their bodies are dirty and gross. The female nude is beautiful, we’re told by our culture, while the male nude is awkward. The penis is an object of fear and derision, disgust and ridicule. And while porn in its ubiquity teaches women that men are aroused by close-ups of female genitalia, men grow up with a sense that their penises are valued only for what they can do (stay hard and get the “job done”) and not for how sexy they look.

And some more about body image, beauty standards and the media...

Well have you ever heard studies telling you how bad women feel about their bodies? Are you surprised that it is not only women feeling that way?

College counseling centers and health services have reported increasing numbers of cases of college men with eating disorders and a sharp rise in the percentage of men who are dissatisfied with their bodies (Morgan, 2002). Evidence shows that more men are presenting to college counseling centers with low self-esteem, appearance concerns, and abnormal eating and exercising behaviors (Morgan, 2002); and research indicates that 95% of college men report dissatisfaction with some aspect of their bodies (Labre, 2002). Moreover, men increasingly are presenting to college counseling centers with manifestations of muscle dysmorphia: low self-esteem, shame, decreased social functioning, and anxiety regarding their appearance. This development, in association with the risk of creatine use and other adverse health behaviors, is creating a growing need for college counselors to better understand the issues facing college men with regard to their body dissatisfaction. - from here

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Body image is often measured by asking the subject to rate their current and ideal body shape using a series of depictions. The difference between these two values is the amount of body dissatisfaction. Monteath and McCabe found that 44%[3] of women express negative feelings about both individual body parts and their bodies as a whole. Psychology Today found that 56% of the women and about 40% of the men who responded to their survey in 1997 were dissatisfied with their overall appearance.[4]

The desire to lose weight is highly correlated with poor body image, and more women than men desire to lose weight. Kashubeck-West et al. reported that when considering only men and women who desire to lose weight, sex differences in body image disappear.[5]

Men's body image is a topic of increasing interest in both academic articles and in the popular press. Current research indicates many men wish to become more muscular than they currently perceive themselves to be, often desiring up to 26 pounds of additional muscle mass.[6]

The desire for additional muscle has been linked to many men's concepts about masculinity. A variety of research has indicated a relationship between men's endorsement of traditionally masculine ideas and characteristics, and his desire for additional muscle[7]. Some research has suggested this relationship between muscle and masculinity may begin early in life, as boys' action figures are often depicted as super-muscular, often beyond the actual limits of human physiology. [8] - from here

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Men are no more immune to the compelling forces of the media than women have been. Men and boys feel pressured to conform to the lean and chiseled body image stereotypes of Hollywood and Madison Ave; where women and girls strive to achieve thinness, men and boys look for well-developed muscles, sleek abs, sculptured pectorals. Since the 1970's, three times as many men have become dissatisfied with their overall appearance. One study shows that close to half of men between the ages of 50 and 59 were dissatisfied with their overall appearance, as compared with 41 and 48 percent for younger age groups. Related body image conditions include:

* BDD, body dysmorphic disorder (a severe preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect in appearance that can impair daily function and cause severe depression,)
* Steroid use
* And muscle dysmorphia in which men and boys believe their muscles aren't large enough; these individuals spend inordinate amounts of time in the weight room.

The onset of disease in males is typically triggered by a concern with bodybuilding and sport training, an indicator that schools and coaches can have a great deal of influence in determining how a child thinks about himself, his body and his priorities. They also play a significant role in prevention. In fact, one of the chief differences between male and female eating disorders is that disordered men are more likely than women to be involved in sports like biking, wrestling, of diving that require weight control. Other differences include that facts that the average age of onset for men (15-16) is slightly later than that for women. (14-15) In addition, men may purge through self-induced vomiting and exercise more readily than do women because dieting, as a device to manage weight, is not as socially acceptable for men.
from here

I took a closer look at

Muscle dysmorphia can cause people to:

* Constantly examine themselves in a mirror
* Frequently compare themselves with others
* Hate their reflections
* Become distressed if they miss a workout session or one of their many meals a day
* Become distressed if they do not receive enough protein per day in their diet
* Take potentially dangerous anabolic steroids
* Neglect jobs, relationships, or family because of excessive exercising
* Have delusions of being underweight or below average in musculature.
* In extreme cases, inject appendages with fluid (e.g. synthol) - from here

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Muscle dysmorphic disorder, unofficially known as "bigorexia," is a disorder that normally affects men rather than women. It is recognized as a subtype of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which involves preoccupation with the appearance of body parts. Common among bodybuilders, muscle dysmorphic disorder (MDD) is marked by a never-ending drive to get bigger.

Muscle dysmorphic disorder is perhaps easiest to describe in terms of its similarity to anorexia nervosa. Thought patterns, risk-taking behaviors, and avoidance of treatment are areas that look the same to friends and family for both disorders.
Thought Patterns in Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder

In anorexia: "No matter how much I restrict food, exercise, or purge, I can't get thin enough."

In muscle dysmorphic disorder: "No matter how much I work out, how many supplements, steroids, or human growth hormone I take, I can't build enough muscle mass."

To the observer, of course, someone with muscle dysmorphic disorder usually seems to be quite large enough. But that won't stop the workouts; in fact, this person will avoid other enjoyable activities if they would make him miss opportunities to work out.
Risk-Taking in Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder

The person with anorexia will often be aware of many of the risks it creates--osteoporosis, muscle loss, injury (from compulsive exercise), heart arrhythmias, and fatigue, among others, possibly leading to death. Getting thinner and/or staying thin is more important.

Similarly, the individual with muscle dysmorphic disorder may continue to work toward greater muscle mass despite being injured. He will generally not concern himself with the risks of steroid or human growth hormone use.
Avoidance of Treatment in Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder

While those with bulimia receive treatment less often, those with anorexia are perhaps more likely to believe that they do not need treatment. Most live under the illusion that their chosen way of life is the best way out there. They believe that others say it's dangerous because they are envious. The material on this web site might be dismissed by someone with anorexia for this reason.

Muscle dysmorphic disorder produces the same effect. The overriding belief is that even if there are problems with working endlessly to develop muscle, those problems are not as bad as the problems that would come if the person gave it up.
Severity and Risks
A study on the relationship between muscle dysmorphic disorder and other forms of body dysmorphic disorder suggests that among those with BDD symptoms, persons with MDD had poorer quality of life and a higher rate of substance abuse. They were also more likely to attempt suicide.
Getting Help

Muscle dysmorphic disorder's similarity with anorexia nervosa would seem to make it a prime candidate for similar treatment. Given that muscle dysmorphic disorder is more likely to affect men, however, raises an issue: Currently, here are few facilities that specialize in treatment of males. This may make men less likely to receive the treatment they need.- from here

 This article takes a closer look at the media

I ran across a fascinating statistic in an article about male body image. If the original G.I. Joe were made life-size, his biceps would have been 12.2 inches in circumference. But 30 years later, Joe has been transformed: His biceps would now measure 26.8 inches in circumference. To put that in perspective, no bodybuilder has ever achieved biceps of that size. Not one.

But why the shift? Why does G.I. Joe's body need to change to be interesting to young boys? It seems that our criteria for appreciating the male body have moved from function to form.
Changes in Male Body Image

It's common for boys (and men, certainly) to compete with each other physically to see who can do more -- jump higher, run faster, lift more, throw farther and more accurately. You'll even see it on work crews where men are doing physically taxing work. There's a tendency for many men to prove that they can outwork or outlast others.

But this appears to be changing. As men's health and fitness magazines focus on how the body looks, rather than what it does, readers change their priorities as well. The questions men now ask are, "What supplement can I take to help me increase my muscularity?" or "How should I work out to make my biceps bigger?"

Effects of Advertisements on Male Body Image

A study examined advertisements depicting male bodies in a major sports magazine over the course of 30 years, beginning in the mid-1970s. The goal was to examine whether models have increasingly been shown in ways that emphasize the body's appearance over its ability.

While some measures the researchers used showed no clear trends, other variables were more telling. For example, models in today's advertisements are less likely to be shown using the advertised product. Also, body parts that can be considered sexualized (e.g., biceps, chest, back, and the abdominal and pelvic regions) are much more likely to be exposed in the 2000s than they were in the 1970s. Plus, it has generally become harder to determine where a model is looking in advertisements (the researchers hold that models whose eyes are hidden are easier to be seen as objects). These criteria would suggest decreasing focus on the body's ability and greater focus on appearance.
How Male Body Image Issues Can Get Out of Control

This focus on appearance is what makes men's pursuit of greater muscularity similar to the pursuit of thinness in women (anorexia nervosa). Both are pursuing visual ideals that are sometimes impossible to achieve. In some cases, the obsession with gaining muscle mass interferes with life away from the gym. This phenomenon, called muscle dysmorphic disorder (and commonly known as "bigorexia"), can lead men to risk their health by using potentially dangerous substances such as anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH).

Even though visual ideals are generally unattainable, they represent concrete goals. This can be a relief to some men who aren't sure how to embrace their masculinity in other ways, or who believe they aren't successful enough in other areas. In short, adding muscle -- changing appearance, rather than improving ability -- literally helps some feel more "like a man." Unfortunately, many find that no amount of muscle is enough.- from here

 And now let us end this wall of text, with another wall of text.

Although many women have body image issues and participate in weight-control behaviors, only a small percentage meet the full criteria for an eating disorder (Tylka, 2004). Likewise, many men who do not meet all of the diagnostic criteria for muscle dysmorphia may still engage in behaviors that are unhealthy and may be associated with significant distresses and impairments (Chung, 2001). Subclinical behaviors that can be associated with muscle dysmorphia can still lead to "strained relationships, impaired social activities, and occupational dysfunction" (Harvey & Robinson, 2003, p. 297) and can be problematic to manage in a college population. For example, a male student may experience strained social relationships because of his feelings of low self-esteem or inadequacies as a man, avoid social functions that interfere with a strict workout schedule or because his self-esteem and body image are so poor, or be distracted from academic work because of the time devoted to exercising or worrying about his appearance.

Even though the behaviors associated with muscle dysmorphia have been identified, research about the possible causes of the disorder is still lacking. In a study of college men in Canada, T. G. Morrison, Morrison, and Hopkins (2003) found that male students attributed the desire for muscularity to social benefits, health benefits, sociocultural pressures, and masculinity. However, this study only examined the desire to be muscular, not the unhealthy drive for muscularity found in muscle dysmorphia. Olivardia, Pope, and Hudson (2000) stated that, "like eating disorders, muscle dysmorphia may be stimulated by sociocultural influences" (p. 1295).

It is possible that this emergence of muscle dysmorphia among college men is due, in part, to changing cultural trends. Specifically, the new ideal male physique is a muscular mesomorphic build, which is characterized by significant muscular definition in the upper body and a slim waist and lower body (T. G. Morrison et al., 2003). Furthermore, researchers are now suggesting that the ideal body portrayed by the mass media influences men's perceptions of what is attractive and lead them to view their bodies as objects or a constellation of different muscular parts (T. G. Morrison et al., 2003).

It is widely believed that the increase in eating disorders among women may have been linked to the images of women in the popular media. Several recent studies have examined how images of men in the media have changed. Pope, Olivardia, Gruber, and Borowiecki (1999) examined the waist, chest, and biceps of male action figures over the past 30 years and found that they have become more muscular and currently exceed the proportions of even the largest bodybuilders. Leit, Pope, and Gray (2001) examined Playgirl centerfolds from 1973 to 1997 and, based on perceived body mass index and fat free mass index, found that the models have become increasingly lean and muscular throughout the past decade and suggested that some men may see themselves as inadequate in comparison with these male models. A related study found that the number of advertisements appearing in women's magazines containing men who are undressed or advertising something unrelated to their bodies have increased dramatically over the past 40 years (Pope, Olivardia, Borowiecki, & Cohane, 2001), whereas Leit, Gray, and Pope (2002) found that college men were more dissatisfied with their own bodies after viewing advertisements that highlight muscular men as compared with a control group who viewed neutral advertisements. Also, Botta (2003) found that men who read sports magazines showed few signs of body dissatisfaction because they were typically reading for the sports information; however, men who read health magazines reported more body dissatisfaction because they were more likely to compare themselves with the men pictured in these magazines.

There is evidence that college men are at a developmental stage that could put them at risk for having an unhealthy obsession with body image issues. Spitzer, Henderson, and Zivian (1999) reported that an inclination toward a lean and muscular body begins at 6 or 7 years of age, continues throughout adolescence, and reaches a pinnacle in the emerging adulthood time period. Furthermore, Olivardia et al. (2000) found that the average age for the onset of muscle dysmorphia was 19.4 years.

Because the identification of muscle dysmorphia is relatively new, few studies about this disorder have been published. Some of the first studies involved male weight lifters because they seemed the most at-risk group for the disorder. Olivardia et al. (2000) conducted a case-control study of weight lifters and then conducted a comparison study of college students. The two populations were found to have similar incidences of body dissatisfaction, eating disorder behaviors, and drive to become more muscular. A study by Pope, Gruber, et al. (2000) compared the perceptions college men in Austria, France, and the United States have about their own body, the ideal male body image, and the male body that they believed women prefer. The men from all three countries similarly perceived their bodies as less than ideal and misidentified what women prefer by grossly overestimating the kilograms of muscle women desire in an ideal male body. Olivardia, Pope, Borowiecki, and Cohane (2004) replicated this study with college students in the United States and arrived at the same conclusion with regard to how college men perceive their own bodies and the body shape that women are believed to desire.

Several efforts have been made to develop instruments to measure muscle dysmorphia. Some studies have used the Somatomorphic Matrix to have men view computerized male body images and add or subtract muscle and fat in order to identify their current images, the ideal image, and the image that women want (Olivardia ct al., 2000; Olivardia et al., 2004; Pope, Gruber, et al., 2000). These studies and others have validated the Somatomorphic Matrix as an effective tool to measure muscle dysmorphia. Mayville, Williamson, White, Netemeyer, and Drab (2002) created the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale as a self-report measure for the cognitive, affective, and behavior dimensions of muscle dysmorphia. This instrument was found to be a valid measure of muscle dysmorphia in men but not women. McCreary, Sasse, Saucier, and Dorsch (2004) determined that the Drive for Muscularity Scale (DMS; McCreary & Sasse, 2000) creates a valid overall score for both men and women; however, the DMS Attitude and Behavior subscales are valid only for men. Cafri and Thompson (2004) reviewed the available assessment instruments and concluded that the DMS, the Somatomorphic Matrix, and a modified version of the Somatomorphic Matrix were the most effective methods for measuring the psychological and behavioral factors of muscle dysmorphia.

Creatine Use: An Added Complication for College Men

In the case of eating disorders among college women, a defining feature is the drive to be thinner. Correspondingly, women with these concerns engage in problematic compensatory and weight management behavior, such as inappropriate purging through vomiting and laxative use. Likewise, a defining feature of the muscle dysmorphia syndrome is the drive for increased muscle mass. Correspondingly, men may engage in problematic behaviors that involve the use of muscle-enhancing substances, such as creatine. Ricciardelli and McCabe (2004) reported that extreme methods to build muscle mass include the use of anabolic steroids and that less extreme methods include the use of food supplements, protein powders, and particular forms of exercise. Although the risks of using anabolic steroids are well known, the use of the legal substance creatine is a new concern because it may lead to steroid use if the desired results are not achieved (Kanayama, Gruber, Pope, Borowiecki, & Hudson, 2001; Metzl, Small, Levine, & Gershel, 2001). Morgan (2002) reported that "a subculture of drug abuse and risky self-medication" (p. A53) is growing on college campuses because drugs like ephedrine and creatine are readily available. Given this environment, college counselors should become informed about the potential dangers of such a subculture and the possibility that it will lead students to the use of illegal substances.

Creatine is a substance found in food that has been shown to increase weight without increasing fat, but no studies on its long-term effects have been reported (Pope, Phillips, & Olivardia, 2000). L. J. Morrison, Gizis, and Shorter (2004) found that 41% of the 113 participants in their study, ages 18 to 30 years and attending a commercial gym, had taken creatine. Furthermore, creatine is currently the most popular supplement used by male high school and college athletes (McGuine, Sullivan, & Bernhardt, 2001). Of further concern is the fact that creatine is not a regulated substance, and persons of any age can purchase it (Congeni & Miller, 2002). - from here

Still 59 unpublished blogposts to...erm....post....sigh

Men and eating disorders

A collection of links

NEW ORLEANS -- Eating disorders in men are much more prominent than is generally appreciated, Dr. Arnold Andersen said at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

[...]

The pressure of maintaining a proper body image--to which men are as subject as women--is an important trigger in initiating and sustaining eating disorders. In men, altering body shape--to be thinner, more muscular, and to increase the chest-waist ratio--is likely to be the concern that drives abnormal eating behavior. Weight manipulation appears to be only a means to achieve the ideal shape.

The prevalence of full-blown eating disorders, however, is substantially greater in women than men: 4:1 for anorexia, and 11.4:1 for bulimia nervosa. Partial syndromes--for example, chronic concern about diet and weight maintenance--are more evenly divided: 1.5:1 for anorexia and 1.8:1 for bulimia, Dr. Anderson said.

That the prevalence of eating disorders among homosexual men is about fourfold higher compared with heterosexual men is believed to reflect possible social influence.

Other groups subjected to an unusual degree of pressure, such as high school wrestlers, also are greatly overrepresented, he commented.

Among the factors that make eating disorders difficult to detect in men are clinician ignorance and patient shame. The association of these disorders with homosexuality and women drives many men to conceal any symptoms of the disorder that they may have as well as any associated distress. Binge eating disorder in particular is often overlooked because of the embarrassment and ignorance surrounding reverse anorexia," Dr. Andersen said.

"We're not asking the right questions" to detect pathology in men, he said. Patients who make any of the statements listed below, may be affected or at risk:

* "I want to be taller."

* "I'm too thin."

* "I want more muscle."

* "I want to gain weight as muscle, not fat."

Most tests applied to eating disorders are skewed toward women and are based on characteristically female presentations and body image distortions.

There are gender-specific obstacles to treatment, too. Many programs have a bias against men, and the larger ones typically refuse to accept them, Dr. Andersen said.- from here

Same old story, males are victim of othering, science is not taking them serious.

February 6, 2004 (AXcess News) Philadelphia - The Renfrew Center released the results of a study on eating disorders Friday which outlined those research findings. The Center, based in Philadelphia, specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder and related mental health issues.

Traditionally, eating disorders were thought to have only been associated with young, privileged, white women. However, today anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating are not discriminating - they are affecting people of all ages, gender and ethnic backgrounds.- from here

Eating disorders
, such as anorexia, binge-eating, and bulimia, are characterized by an individual displaying extreme behaviors and attitudes about their weight and food issues.

Many feel that eating disorders are common in young girls who have developed these issues through their pubescent years. This, however, is incorrect thinking.

The fact is eating disorders do not discriminate and can be developed by both males and females, as well as those of all ages and races. According to the National Institute of Mental Health
, approximately 5-15% of individuals that have been diagnosed with an eating disorder and approximately 35% of those diagnosed with binge-eating disorder are male. - from here

And another one that adds some facts here and there

Research into male eating disorders
A large US study of adolescents reported in 1995 does show that significant numbers of young males experiencing problem weight control behavior.

2%-3% of males diet all the time or more than ten times a year

5%-14% of males deliberately vomit after eating

12%-21% had a history of binge eating

A study published in the April 2001 American Journal of Psychiatry found many psychological similarities between men and women with eating disorders, with both groups experiencing similar symptoms.

Doctors fail to recognize male eating disorders
To date the evidence suggests that the gender bias of clinicians mean that diagnosing either bulimia or anorexia in men is less likely despite identical behavior. Men are more likely to be diagnosed as suffering depression with associated appetite changes than receive a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder. - from here

Here is an approach I really liked (and I really would like to see a similar approach when it comes to DV). From a website about eating disorders.

Okay, so we all want to hear how Calvin Klein is the culprit and that the emaciated waif look has caused women to tale-spin into the world of Eating Disorders. While the images of child-like women has obviously contributed to an increased obsession to be thin, and we can't deny the media influence on eating disorders, there's a lot more to it than that. With approximately six billion people in the world, and a mere ten million of them suffering with some type of disordered eating (.18% of the overall population -- less than a ¼ of 1%), the media obviously doesn't cause everyone to develop Anorexia, Bulimia or Compulsive Overeating. (Current statistics indicated that approximately one in every one hundred teenage girls may develop an Eating Disorder).

It is a lot more complex than blaming the media.
The media most certainly contributes to dieting and size discrimination
but Eating Disorders are NOT Diets!

[...]

While all of these images, advertisements, and messages may be counterproductive to a good self-image, and society's overall acceptance of each person's different size and shape, they are NOT the reason so many men and women develop an Eating Disorder. These images may not help, and for those already open to the possibility of negative coping mechanisms and/or mental illness, the media may play a small contributing role -- but ultimately, if a young man or woman's life situation, environment, and/or genetics leave them open to an Eating Disorder (or alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, OCD, etc.), they will still end up in the same place regardless of television or magazines. Ultimately it's important to know that Anorexia, Bulimia and Compulsive Overeating are NOT about weight and food. Rather they are complex disorders where each sufferer is plagued with low self-esteem, an inability to cope with their own emotions and stress, and many underlying issues that have lead them to their disordered eating. - from here

"This Child" can be anyone from someone with Compulsive Overeating to Anorexia or Bulimic. It can be your husband or wife, your sister or brother, your son or daughter, your lover or friend, a parent or grandparent, an aunt or uncle, a niece, a nephew, a cousin. They might be male or female, any age, and come from any race or religious background. It is me, it is you or it is someone you love or know.

To have an Eating Disorder is to have a disease of the self-esteem, and to have a broken coping mechanism. Eating Disorders are about being addicted to a behavior that makes it easy to temporarily forget problems and feelings of depression and self hate, stress and anxiety, guilt and pressure. Just like alcohol is a symptom of alcoholism, food is a symptom of Anorexia, Bulimia or Compulsive Overeating. The real issues are hidden away in each sufferers heart and mind. - from here

People with Eating Disorders are only "young, white and female".

ANYONE can suffer from Anorexia or Bulimia. Regardless of previously held beliefs, it is not only young, middle-class white teenagers or college students who can suffer. African-American, Hispanic, Asian, or white, women or men, rich to poor, from their teen years well into their fifties, there are sufferers from every age-bracket, class and culture. Don't rely on the "written statistics" - they are based on reports made to government agencies and if a country, state, or province doesn't require that doctors report the cases, the statistics will not be accurate. Keep in mind as well, the more shame a sufferer feels, the less likely that they will come forward and say they have an Eating Disorder... so if we keep perpetuating the idea that only "young white women" suffer, less and less of them that don't fit this ideal will not come forward, be acknowledged, and get the help they deserve.

[...]

Doctors should know. If the doctor says there's nothing to worry about, then there isn't.

Doctors do not know everything. Unfortunately, in most places, unless a doctor has taken additional courses in Eating Disorder training or has specialized in the field, they know very little about them. A great number of doctors are not aware of all the warning signs or will begin testing for other possible physical problems because of the stigma society has attached to Eating Disorders. A lot of times, doctors wait for the patient to say "hey doc, I have an Eating Disorder" and considering the low-self esteem and nature of the illness, more often than not this is unlikely to happen early on. Also, the human body learns to adapt to starvation and malnutrition, so unless blood tests are specifically geared towards Eating Disorders, average blood tests of a physical will show little detrimental information. I cannot stress enough how important it is to find a way to tell your doctor you have an Eating Disorder... and I will add if any doctor ever treats your poorly or ignores your plea for help, find another doctor!

[...]

An Eating Disorder is a woman's illness.

Absolutely Not. Only recently has the media begun to address the "hidden population" of men with Eating Disorders. Many men suffer but because of the old wive's tale that Eating Disorders were just illnesses of woman, the men suffering have feared telling of their problems, or even facing it themselves. It is calculated that 1 in 10 Eating Disorders currently are men, and expected that the number is much higher. - from here

According to Arnold Andersen and the research he did for his book Males with Eating Disorders, while women who develop Eating Disorders feel fat before the onset of their disordered eating behaviors, typically they are near average weight. Men are more typically overweight medically before the development of the disorder. In addition, men who are binge eaters or compulsive overeaters may go undiagnosed more than women because of society's willingness to accept an overeating and/or overweight man more-so than an overeating or overweight woman.

Though it is more common for homosexual men to suffer from Eating Disorders such as Anorexia and Bulimia (because of the tendency in the male gay community to place a high level of importance on success and appearance), there are still many heterosexual men out there who suffer. This contributes back into the shameful feelings a heterosexual male sufferer has -- he may be afraid that people will think he is gay -- or that a homosexual and heterosexual male can feel -- that the illness is considered to be a "female's problem". I have often received e-mail from men who are suffering in silence because of these two issues.

In addition, there may often be shrouds of secrecy because of the lack of therapy groups and treatment centers offering groups specifically designed for men. They may feel very alone at the thought of having to sit in a group of women, to be part of a program designed for women, and even at the prospect that a treatment facility will turn them down because of their sex.

Men who participate in low-weight oriented sports such as jockeys, wrestlers and runners are at an increased risk of developing an Eating Disorder such as Anorexia or Bulimia. The pressure to succeed, to be the best, to be competitive and to win at all costs, combined with any non-athletic pressures in their lives (relationship issues, family problems, abuse, etc.) can help to contribute the onset of their disordered eating.

It is not uncommon for men suffering with an Eating Disorder to also suffer with alcoholism and/or drug abuse simultaneously (though many women also suffer both disordered eating and substance abuse problems combined). This may be due to the addictive nature of their psychological health combined with the strong images put out by society of men's overindulgence in alcohol. In addition, men suffering with Anorexia and Bulimia seem to have more sexual anxiety. There may also be a link between ADHD, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, with male sufferers of Anorexia and Bulimia and self-injury. More research needs to be done in this area. For all those who suffer, men and women, there are many possible co-existing psychological illnesses that can be present, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, self-injury behavior and substance abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder, and borderline personality disorder and multiple personality syndrome.

The most important thing, overall, to remember is that most of the underlying psychological factors that lead to an Eating Disorder are the same for both men and women. Low self-esteem, a need to be accepted, depression, anxiety or other existing psychological illness, and an inability to cope with emotions and personal issues. All of the physical dangers and complications associated with being the sufferer of an Eating Disorder are the same. A great number of the causes are the same or very similar (family problems, relationship issues, alcoholic/addictive parent, abuse, societal pressure). Most of all, all people with eating disorders deserve to find recovery and the happiness and self-love on the other side. - from here

The one in 10 seems to be the number when it comes to eating disorders. It seems though there could be more:

The number of men with symptoms of eating disorders has doubled in past decade. New research out of the University of Toronto shows that 1 of every 6 people who qualified for a full or partial diagnosis of anorexia was male - substantially more than the 1 in 10 usually reported. Largely under recognized and underreported in men and boys, males are more likely to blame unnatural weight loss on physical rather than psychological problems. In addition, it remains taboo in our society for men to care about how they look, so there is a greater motivation to keep body image obsessions a secret.

The issues of eating disorders for men are for the most part, similar to those of women who suffer from the same disease.

* Men suffer from with self-esteem and perfectionism.
* They seek to gain control of their lives by controlling their bodies.
* They often suffer from depression, anxiety, alcohol or drug abuse or other psychiatric conditions as well.
* Most have distorted image of body, seeing obesity where others see skin and bones.
* They are at risk to suffer cardiac irregularities, electrolyte imbalances that could lead to death, and osteoporosis, to name a few physical side effects.
* Hormone (testosterone) levels plummet and sexual desire vanishes. - from here

Another one about the similarities between men and women.

Eating disorders are more common in men than was previously thought, yet men are not as likely to seek treatment for eating disorders, according to a study published in the April 2001 American Journal of Psychiatry. The researchers found many psychological similarities between men and women with eating disorders, with both groups experiencing similar symptoms.

The authors compared 62 men who met all or most of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for eating disorders with 212 women who had similar eating disorders, and 3,769 men who had no eating disorders who had a wide variety of medical histories.

"Men are generally very similar to women in terms of comparing psychopathology," said lead author D. Blake Woodside, M.D., of the Department of Psychiatry at Toronto Hospital. "The illnesses are much more equivalent in prevalence than was previously thought. We have to think about why men wouldn't come for treatment."

One possible explanation is that men are reluctant to come for help because they feel eating disorders fall under the category of "woman's diseases." This is linked to the second possible reason, which is that men may not recognize the symptoms because it doesn't occur to them to do so, because eating disorders have long been assumed to plague women only.

"Men with symptoms should get help, as women do. This is where public education comes in," Woodside said, adding that public education efforts should do more to identify and treat men with eating disorders.

Woodside also said that the differences that are observed between men with eating disorders and men in the general population could result from side effects of the disorders.

["Comparisons of Men with Full or Partial Eating Disorders, Men Without Eating Disorders, and Women with Eating Disorders in the Community," by D. Blake Woodside, M.D., et al., p. 570, American Journal of Psychiatry, April 2001.]- from here

Well that is the end of the wall of text. You can stop reading here. Yes yes...

Unobtainable beauty standards

A nice article. I'll start with the usual double standard.

While female models are criticised for fuelling the rise in eating disorders by looking underweight, their male counterparts have largely escaped such adverse scrutiny. By and large, we have collectively assumed that those rippling abs represent the result of the kind of gym-dedication and healthy living that can only be admired. Behind the abs, though, is a far from wholesome reality.

The truth seems to differ a bit as a male model tells us what he has to do to look that way.

For days at a time he restricts fluid intake so severely that the resulting dehydration causes headaches, haziness and overwhelming fatigue. Having trained for weeks like an Olympian with high-intensity circuits, running and weightlifting, he then cuts out exercise for 48 hours and opens a bottle of red wine to drink alone. A six-day carbohydrate-depletion diet, in which he eats little more than chicken and broccoli, leaves his muscles weak and his brain so starved of glycogen, its source of fuel, that he feels dizzy and disorientated when he stands up. He can barely walk, let alone hit the gym. [...] Two days before a photoshoot, he says, he begins to dehydrate by restricting the intake of water and other fluids to a minimum. After almost a week of carbohydrate avoidance, he also begins to “carbo-load” by eating pasta and sweet potatoes for 48 hours. “That forces the muscles to fill up with glycogen so they look bigger,” he says. “Being dehydrated makes your skin shrink and become taut so that it sticks to the muscles and gives a dry, vascular appearance, making your veins stick out, which is what the magazines want.” Many male models drink alcohol — brandy and gin are favourites — to speed dehydration. “I open a bottle of red wine the night before, and on the morning of a photoshoot I have another glass of wine and some wine gums,” Martin says. “The sugar in the sweets and the alcohol draw more water from the skin, leaving you looking as lean as possible.” Among models and many others in the industry, Martin says, there is an unspoken acknowledgement that the pre-shoot regimen is standard. “There is definitely a sense that magazines expect you to turn up dehydrated and dizzy,” he says. “I’ve been on castings for fitness magazines where there are six or seven models who are so groggy and out of it that they need to grab a chair to sit down and literally can’t speak.”

What makes this thing ironic is that such a regiment is needed to get on the cover of Men's Health. Health, as in not dehydraded...my oh my.

Also funny

Fricker says that tricks are sometimes used to create an unrealistic illusion of abdominal perfection. Last year, one publication featured him in an article entitled “Scrawny to Brawny” in which it was insinuated that readers could transform their bodies into something resembling his rock-hard physique in eight weeks. “But the ‘before’ picture they showed of me was one from five years ago, not two months previously, so it was misleading,” he says. “Quite often, ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures are taken on the same day. Models are asked to slump their shoulders and un-tense their abs in the ‘before’ shots, then art directors use lighting, better posture and Photoshop to get the ‘after’ effect they want.”

And finally

But the pursuit of that perfect six-pack shows no sign of slowing. Recent research by the Harley Medical Group, the largest cosmetic surgery chain in the UK, revealed that the number of men aged 35 and over choosing to have a tummy tuck has risen by 55 per cent so far this year, compared with 2009. And a University of Florida study suggested that changing perceptions of the ideal male physique have triggered a wave of body-image problems among men striving to achieve a muscular look. Professor Heather Hausenblas, the exercise psychologist who carried out the research, said: “If you look back at the ideal male body, 50 years ago it wasn’t this hyper-muscular physique that we see now,” she says.

“We have seen a significant rise in the number of men who are dissatisfied with the way the look and want to be more muscular.”
As long as we continue to buy into the dream that such bodies are attainable, cover models will flaunt their ripped midsections on magazines proffering the irresistible notion that chiselled abs are up for grabs. “But it’s impossible to look like that seven days a week, despite what the magazines try to tell you,” says Martin. “We can’t achieve that look. Nobody can.”

Blind men like big boobs

What a headline. An interesting study which might indicate where the body image of the hourglass figure comes from....is it biological? Is it society? An interesting take

The study involved men who had been sightless from birth. The idea was that the bombardment of visual media — of models on billboards and actresses on television and porn stars online — which may be so powerful and even dominant in molding desire, couldn’t have had any direct effect on these men, who emerged from the womb into a congenital dark. Would their tastes in women’s bodies match those of men who could see? How would their preferences reflect on the roles of nature and nurture, on the influence of evolution and the impact of experience, in forming our psyches?

Over the past two decades, researchers have been looking at whether cinched yet sumptuous female body shapes, corresponding to low waist-to-hip ratios, are preferred by men across societies and have been favored across time, the idea being that if the answer is yes, evolutionary factors would seem to outweigh culture in determining at least this one aspect of lust. And frequently when scientists have shown simple line drawings of women to men around the world, from Germany to Japan to Guinea-Bissau, the answer has in fact been yes; ratios of 0.7, or sometimes lower, have been rated the most attractive, no matter whether more or less overall flesh is the cultural ideal. A study of Miss Americas from the 1920s to the ’80s and of Playboy centerfolds from the ’50s to 1990 came up with the same result; the chosen women became thinner over the decades, but their proportions stayed constant, right around 0.7. The evolutionary explanations for these findings share the logic that lower ratios somehow signaled ancestral men that a woman would produce more or fitter offspring, and the argument of one recent study, built on data from several thousand women and children, is that mothers with lower ratios tend to produce smarter kids, because, the researchers suggest after controlling for other factors, certain fatty acids in a woman’s hip padding, delivered in the womb and through breast-feeding, are beneficial to the development of a baby’s brain, while belly fat is detrimental. 

with some statistically insignificant variation, the scores of the blind matched those of the sighted. Both groups preferred the more pronounced sweep from waist to hip.

It is not as clear cut as the copied parts of this article seem to suggest. Oh and, it was about hip to waist ratio not boob size....and I still won't change the headline.

Another day, another study...

A bit older but a real keeper (if you like numbers as much as I do). I present  "Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance - 2007".

This one has it all apparently. It is official (by the CDC), it is pretty large (about 14,000 questionnaires answered by students in grades 9-12) and covers some interesting topics. So let us start.

Percentage of high school students who were in a physical fight and who were injured in a physical fight
Male 44.4% injured 5.5%
Female 26.5% injured 2.9%

Percentage of high school students who were threatened or injured with
a weapon on school property
Male 10.2%
Female 5.4%

Percentage of high school students who were in a physical fight on school property and who had their property stolen or deliberately damaged on school property.
Male 16.3% stolen/damaged 30.4%
Female 8.5% stolen/damaged 23.7%

No surprise here if you knew the police statistics. Males are more likely to be victims of any crime (except rape). This however is more interesting to me:

Percentage of high school students who did not go to school because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school
Male 5.4%
Female 5.6%

I was a bit surprised as I somehow expected women to be more scared than men. The difference not so much.

Next DV and Rape:

Percentage of high school students who experienced dating violence and who were ever physically forced to have sexual intercourse
Male 11% raped 4.5%
Female 8.8% raped 11.3%

This is interesting and might be surprising to some males are more likely to be victims of dating violence and are about 1/3 of rape victims. Surely, not addressing more than half of all dating violence victims and ignoring 1/3 of all rape victims will not sound like a good idea to those at the CDC, if the US Government would just act accordingly.

If someone remembers the post I made with the meta studies, there is one I held back. It is taken from the book "Weibliche Gewalt in Partnerschaften" (Female violence in relationships) by German Researcher Dr. Schwithal. It is an analyses of 55 worldwide studies on sexual violence with a breakdown on gender. The reason I hold it back was simple. It mashes rape with sexual violence together. Of course one can not compare a full-on rape case with groping, he note however that the amount of male victims of sexual violence was very high. The results, 57.9% of the violence was committed by men. 40.8% of victims were also men.


Interesting in that regard also is the following

Percentage of high school students who ever had sexual intercourse and who had sexual intercourse for the first time and before age 13 years
Male 49.8% before 13 10.9%
Female 45.9% before 13 4%

I wonder how many of those before 13 are statutory rape cases.

We continue with depression:

Percentage of high school students who felt sad or hopeless
Male 21.2%
Female 35.8%

Percentage of high school students who seriously considered attempting suicide and who made a plan about how they would attempt suicide
Male 10.3% planed 9.2%
Female 18.7% planed 13.4%

Percentage of high school students who attempted suicide and whose suicide attempt resulted in an injury, poisoning, or an overdose that had to be treated by a doctor or nurse
Male 4.6% injury 1.5%
Female 9.3% injury 2.4%

And for completions sake from another source youth suicide rates:
In the United States, more than four times as many male youth die by suicide but girls attempt suicide more often and report higher rates of depression (CDC Data). To be honest I expected a larger gap on attempts and planed suicide in favor of women.

And on with drugs, drugs are an interesting topic because people argue that men die younger because they are doing more drugs

Percentage of high school students who ever smoked cigarettes
Male 51.8% daily 13.0%
Female 48.8% daily 11.8%

Percentage of high school students who drank alcohol
Male 74.3% current 44.7% Episodic heavy drinking 27.8%
Female 75.7% current 44.6% Episodic heavy drinking 24.1%

Percentage of high school students who used cocaine
Male 7.8% current 4.0%
Female 6.5% current 2.5%

Percentage of high school students who used heroin
Male 2.9%
Female 1.6%

And again, the gaps here, not so big. Good numbers to keep in mind once this discussion comes up again.

The following goes into the direction of body image:

Percentage of high school students who did not eat for 24 or more hours and who took diet pills, powders, or liquids
Male 7.3% diet pills 4.2%
Female 16.3% diet pills 7.5%

Percentage of high school students who vomited or took laxatives
Male 2.2%
Female 6.4%

Eating disorders / body image is something society sees as a mostly female problem. According to the last set of numbers that would exclude 1/4 of victims. When it comes to body image problems the following is also interesting.

Percentage of high school students who took steroids
Male 5.1%
Female 2.7%

Steroid abuse might be the opposite of eating disorders (excluding binge eating). The pumped up look one can only achieve with drugs. Quite frankly I was surprised with the high female rate (1/3).

In retrospect, a good resource when it comes to DV/rape numbers and some other numbers to keep in the back of your head for certain discussions.