Eating Disorders Increasing in Boys

By BrainPhysics Staff, Mon, December 27, 2010

The percentage of boys with eating disorders is growing:

"The stereotype of a child or teen with an eating disorder has historically been an affluent white girl in her teens or early twenties. The reality is eating disorders are an equal opportunity condition. Not only that, but eating disorders are affecting younger children and some of the sharpest increases are occurring in boys and minority youth. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in an analysis of data, determined that hospitalizations for eating disorders jumped by 119 percent between 1999 and 2006 for children under the age of 12. About 10% of teens with an eating disorder are boys, and the number is growing.

For many children and teens, participation in sports creates a situation in which athletes have “partial-syndrome” eating disorders. Gymnasts, dancers, models, wrestlers, swimmers, bodybuilders, rowers and other performers have some, but not all, of the symptoms of an eating disorder."

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