Eating disorders plague teenage boys, too

Posted on June 22, 2013

A survey shows that L.A. male high school students are about as likely as females to use diet aids or laxatives or vomiting to lose weight. The numbers challenge old assumptions.

Bryan Piperno was just 9 years old when he began keeping his secret.

The Simi Valley youngster tossed out lunches or claimed he ate elsewhere. As he grew older, he started purging after eating. Even after his vomiting landed him in the emergency room during college, he lied to hide the truth.

Piperno, now 25, slowly fended off his eating disorder with time and care, including a stay in a residential treatment facility. But surveys show a rising number of teenage boys in Los Angeles now struggle with similar problems.

Females remain much more likely to be hospitalized for eating disorders than boys and men, who made up 12% of such hospital stays as of four years ago, the government estimates show. However, researchers say that because men fear coming forward, the rates among males might be higher than the numbers suggest.

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Category(s):Eating Disorders

Source material from Los Angeles Times