How eating disorders develop

There is less cultural pressure on men to be slim although the 'sixpack' shape and image may be important. The onset of an eating disorder in men usually has a specific trigger. These include:-

• Avoiding childhood bullying/teasing for being overweight
• Bodybuilding/exercise
• Specific occupations including athletics, dance, horse racing etc

A number of men with personal experience of eating disorders were interviewed in the course of preparing the report and some of their comments appear below.

The majority of the men reported that their eating disorders had started in their school years when they were overweight and called names. Several reported being severely overweight in their younger years, for a variety of reasons to do with low self esteem, crises at home, and difficulties with coming to terms with their situation. For example, one man was 10 stone at 10 years and was put on a 'diet' by the school. This led to him eating on his own and being teased. However, some older men had experienced episodes of eating disorders throughout their lives, associated with loss of a partner, illness of a parent, a relationship breakdown, change of job, stresses of achieving higher university or work qualifications etc.

The particular pressures in the gay male community to have the 'body beautiful' and 'to be slim in order to get a partner' was mentioned by the gay men interviewed. Some gay men talked about the conflicts they had experienced when younger. It was felt to be a bigger problem in the gay male community than has previously been acknowledged. One man reported that his partner had helped him a lot. Men also experienced particular difficulty discussing their illness with their peers. One young man commented 'It is more difficult to come forward, you cannot admit to your feelings in a macho culture; people think you are weak and you fear that you are going to lose respect from your friends.'

The men were asked about their experiences of treatment and care and identified the following issues as being particularly important: Access to sympathetic professionals who did not moralise, who knew about eating disorders and who could provide specialist help.

Whilst some of the men interviewed had received a very prompt response from their GP, the general lack of recognition of the problem or the severity of it, by the GP and the consequent time it took to get specialist help, was a difficulty experienced by many people. GPs were seen as crucial, both because they often dealt with men on an ongoing basis and because they had the power to make appropriate referrals as well as to issue medical certificates.

Read some survivors stories to help understand what it is like to have an eating disorder, or click here for information on how to get help.