“Honey, dinner’s ready!” yells Taylor’s mom. “That’s 
ok mom, I already ate!” Taylor yells back. Taylor 
guiltily looks around at the empty boxes of cookies, 
the half-eaten extra large pizza still in its box, the 
jumble of candy wrappers strewn around the room like 
confetti, and sighs. Taylor quietly slips down the 
hall, scoots in to the bathroom, and repeats the 
nightly ritual of self-induced vomiting. 

Taylor is a guy. 

If this surprises you, it shouldn’t. About 10 million 
people in the U.S. suffer from eating disorders; a 
reported 15 percent of those 10 million are male. 
There very well may be many more men who suffer from 
eating disorders, but they are not willing to admit it.


Most people think that eating disorders in males 
are “rare” because of the fact that our society views 
men as being less concerned with appearance and body 
image, and eating disorder victims are 
considered “weak.” However, eating disorders are 
psychological problems and often not related to 
appearance or weakness.  Even the most macho body-
building type guys can suffer from eating disorders. 
This shows that eating disorders in men are a real 
problem that many guys face, but they keep their 
illness a secret.

You may think that the only types of eating disorders 
are anorexia and bulimia but guess what? There are
many other types of eating disorders, including 
compulsive overeating (where someone eats huge amounts 
of food in one sitting) and compulsive exercising 
(where people deprive themselves of food, work out for 
several hours, and exercise for self-punishment.) 

Men who are athletes are common sufferers of eating 
disorders because of the physical regulations their 
sport places upon them. Athletes may be forced by 
their trainer or coach to exercise rigorously or lose 
a large amount of weight in a short amount of time. 
The psychological stress of striving to sculpt a 
perfect body may also lead to other unhealthy 
behavior, such as taking steroids.

Men who are questioning their sexuality may find it 
difficult to deal  with their complex feelings, and 
use controlling their weight and eating habits as an 
outlet for these feelings.

 I asked some teen guys their opinions on body image, 
stereotypes, and male eating disorders.

Andy  Rogers, 15, of Aptos High School said, “I don’t 
think that guys are bored enough to spend time to
care about what they look like.”

Daniel Kane, 15, also of Aptos said, “I think guys 
worry about what they look like too, but they don’t 
admit it.”

Anthony Quiroz, 16, of Soquel High School said, “I 
don’t think guys are as uncomfortable about their 
looks and their bodies as girls are. Girls have more 
of a set look that they see in the media. Guys don’t 
have that. Like, a good example is Jack Black [Shallow 
Hal, School of Rock]. That guy’s cool, but if you saw 
a girl like that you’d say ‘ew’ because people aren’t 
used to seeing girls as less than perfect.”

One guy, who wished to remain anonymous, said that he 
was teased a lot for being heavy as a kid. He decided 
to go on a major diet and went from about 190 pounds 
to 140 pounds in a few months.

Funny, none of these guys even mentioned eating 
disorders. I guess people still regard eating 
disorders as a “woman’s disease,” but the truth is 
that eating disorders disregard gender, race, 
sexuality and everything in between. Eating disorders 
are used as a cover-up to shield and avoid other 
issues.

If you think you or someone you know may have an 
eating disorder, check out www.aweighout.com 
for advice on what to do or talk to a friend, your 
doctor, or someone you trust.