Male Anorexia
Believe it or not the male species can have anorexia too. Although there are not as many males as there females with the problem, there are about 10 percent of the people with anorexia are males. It is reported that one in every six people with anorexia are male. It seems that the public see more females that are anorexic and rarely even notice if a male is anorexic or not. Many people think it is a female problem and do not know that some males have the problem too. They have psychological, biological, and sociological problems too just as a female can. There is a lot of peer pressure for every teenager and it depends on how they cope with it is what makes them become anorexic. They have low self esteem and do not feel good about themselves. They continually find fault with themselves probably because they have been teased or treated like they are not worth anything and they eventually believe it. They do what they feel they have to so they can be a part of society or belong with their peers. Most of the people who are anorexic are children between 10 and 20 years with the average being 17. There are some that are younger and some older but the percentage is low for those age groups. Eating disorders in the male can begin with their desire to be competitive. Some are interested in sports and girls and feel that they need to lose weight in order to compete for either one. They are dealing with changes in their bodies as girls are and this is said to be a contributing factor to anorexia. Sometimes they do not know how to cope with the changes.
Males are susceptible to cultural demands to have a perfect body just as the girls are when they are teens. Many times there is pressure on the boys who want to be in sports. Their coaches push them to lose weight and become stronger and some boys may feel the only way they can reach the needed goal is to either not eat at all or lose it after they eat it by vomiting or taking enemas or laxatives. The sooner the diagnosis for anorexia is made, the sooner the doctors can begin treatment and also maybe prevent serious health issues caused by the anorexia. Severe anorexia victims can experience severe health problems such as heart, kidney, and brain damage that can not be reversed. Some of the signs and symptoms of anorexia are not eating, cutting food up in small piects, spitting out food after it is chewed, lack of emotion, wearing baggy clothes or layers to hide the weight loss, thin appearance, blood count, fatigue, dizziness, fainting, brittle nails, low blood pressure, osteoporosis, irregular heart beat, constipation, depression, and more.
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