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In this new study, on average, boys develop eating disorders at a slightly younger age than girls do, and they usually don’t have anorexia or bulimia, researchers say.
“These results indicate that there are indeed differences in the ways in which child and adolescent males and females present for eating disorder treatment,” said lead author Kathryn Kinasz of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at The University of Chicago.
Anorexia nervosa was seen in more than a third of girls but in only 25 per cent of boys. And rates of bulimia were 27 per cent in girls versus 12 per cent in boys. Almost two-thirds of boys were diagnosed with a disorder in the “other” category, which includes binge-eating disorder.
Males tended to have lower overall eating-disorder psychopathology and lower restraint, eating concern, shape concern and weight concern, while females more often had a mood or anxiety disorder along with their eating disorder, according to results in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
“As the authors point out, one of the things that we don’t understand is the point at which weight loss in males becomes a clinically significant problem,” said Alison Darcy of the Stanford School of Medicine, who was not part of the new study. “Males and females are likely not exactly comparable in this regard because of differential body fat ratios between the sexes.” Low heart rate is one of the key signs of an eating disorder and is frequently mistaken as a sign of fitness, particularly in the context of someone who trains a lot, which doctors should know, Darcy told Reuters Health by e-mail.
“Increased focus on time at the gym should be a warning sign, particularly when this begins to take precedent over other activities that the child previously enjoyed,” Kinasz said. “Losing weight at a very rapid pace should also be a red flag.” Gym time and weight loss can be healthy, particularly in obese patients, but it should not become an obsession, Kinasz said.
Category(s):Eating Disorders
Source material from The University of Chicago
