Like my many friends, I worry a lot about not having a bulky body and being thin. Most young men and adolescent boys strive to achieve the six-pack abs and bulging biceps and workout hard in gyms and fitness centers. I know people who have consumed so much of protein that their kidneys failed and even had to be hospitalized. What has been touted as a disorder found among only women, eating disorders are increasingly wreaking havoc on men and their physical and mental health.

The pressure to grow bigger and more muscular has made guys consume abnormally large quantities of protein, which causes in renal failure. However, the society still has not recognized this is a problem and has been dismissing it as a fad. In my opinion, media plays a major role in shaping our self-image and how we value our bodies, regardless of our age or gender. Eating disorders are prevalent among men and women of all ages equally. In fact, among men it is far more dangerous as the sufferers do not approach doctors nor do their family members realize it is a psychological disorder, which needs medical attention.

However, anorexia nervosa has fueled enough awareness campaigns and hence families do know if a girl has been starving herself. In a guy’s case, he would eat abnormally large quantities and still remain thin and in a quest to grow bigger, he would fall seriously sick. The media, the society and the peer groups in general have wreaked havoc on susceptible minds.

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Via: GordonMoyes

The world of health is struck by news of anorexia hitting men. A medical condition usually associated with teenage girls has left experts dizzy as men have increasingly started to eat less to get the “ideal body.” Laying stress on the fact that most cases go unreported, Susan Ringwood, CEO of eating disorder charity beat, believes that rise in male anorexia is a much bigger problem because men traditionally are less likely to seek help. Psychiatrist Frances said that it was doubly humiliating for men to come forward because mental health and anorexia were seen as “girl problems”.
The rise in the focus in the body aesthetic has affected the masses deeply, men and girls in particular. Male magazines are also being blamed for this. Ringwood adds, “Clinics are seeing many more men, as well as children as young as eight. We know children are more likely to develop an eating disorder during puberty and puberty is starting on average five years earlier than it did 50 years ago.”
Via timesofindia