Manorexia: The Masculine Side of Body Image Distortion

In the U.S., at least a third of the 30 million people suffering from eating disorders are boys or men, according to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). That’s 10 million people, most of whom won’t ever get the help they desperately need because they have a Y chromosome. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a real–and sometimes quite deadly–tragedy.

Boys and men who feel pressured to have the perfect body often become anxious and depressed (which can lead to suicide). They diet and work out obsessively and can do permanent joint- and muscle damage. Those obsessions can become so consuming that homework, school attendance, and career may suffer, and they may stop spending time with friends and family because they don’t want to interrupt their workout schedule or they feel embarrassed about how skinny they are.

So why do we ignore men and boys with eating disorders? You’ll find out that and many other questions about “manorexia” here.