male anorexia nervosa

In my experience, gymnasts and acrobats are at lower risk of anorexia nervosa than the general population.

Though it’s possible to be a “functioning anorexic“, it’s not easy in Artistic Gymnastics.

Females are treated medically at something like a 10 to 1 ratio to males. Yet the only competitive gymnast I’ve ever had hospitalized, was male.

In that teenager’s very specific case it was triggered by him trying to meet a weight class in rowing. (He was doing both sports simultaneously.)

Here’s another detailed case study of male anorexia nervosa, Eric Ostendorf:

… Eric’s anorexic habits began when he was 10.

And more children like him are developing eating disorders early, researchers warned this week in a report in the journal Pediatrics. …

The perception that eating disorders affect only females is wrong, especially for younger kids. …

When Eric’s parents noticed his fixation on exercise and diet, they initially thought it was part of his obsessive-compulsive disorder. He had always been particular with his food, said his mother, Becky Ostendorf.

“He was very compulsive with exercise and of course losing weight,” she said.

Eating disorders give kids a sense of control that’s related to their anxiety, Weltzin said.

“There are rigid perfection obsessive-compulsive characteristics,” he said. “They get locked into a behavior in a compulsive way.” …

CNN Health – Inside one boy’s anorexia: ‘How can I burn the most calories?’

Eric is over it. At age-17, 145lbs, he can now see that he had a serious problem.

There are a lot of skinny boys compulsively doing sports. Let’s stay alert to this rare psychological disorder.