Washington, D.C. - Eating disorders are more common in men than was previously thought, yet men are not as likely to seek treatment for eating disorders, according to a study published in the April 2001 American Journal of Psychiatry. The researchers found many psychological similarities between men and women with eating disorders, with both groups experiencing similar symptoms.

There has been continued debate as to whether men with eating disorders suffer from the same mental disorders and symptoms as women, a question that has been fueled by the fact that men are not represented in programs that treat eating disorders. Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or other methods to control weight, and anorexia is the refusal or inability to maintain normal weight combined with intense fear of gaining weight.

The authors compared 62 men who met all or most of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for eating disorders with 212 women who had similar eating disorders, and 3,769 men who had no eating disorders who had a wide variety of medical histories.

"Men are generally very similar to women in terms of comparing psychopathology," said lead author D. Blake Woodside, M.D., of the Department of Psychiatry at Toronto Hospital. "The illnesses are much more equivalent in prevalence than was previously thought. We have to think about why men wouldn't come for treatment."

One possible explanation is that men are reluctant to come for help because they feel eating disorders fall under the category of "woman's diseases." This is linked to the second possible reason, which is that men may not recognize the symptoms because it doesn't occur to them to do so, because eating disorders have long been assumed to plague women only.

"Men with symptoms should get help, as women do. This is where public education comes in," Woodside said, adding that public education efforts should do more to identify and treat men with eating disorders.

Woodside also said that the differences that are observed between men with eating disorders and men in the general population could result from side effects of the disorders.

["Comparisons of Men with Full or Partial Eating Disorders, Men Without Eating Disorders, and Women with Eating Disorders in the Community," by D. Blake Woodside, M.D., et al., p. 570, American Journal of Psychiatry, April 2001.]

---American Psychiatric Accosiation

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