Eating Disorders Causes & Risk Factors
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While the popular image of a person with an eating disorder is a teenage girl, boys certainly can develop eating disorders. In fact, recent evidence shows that the incidence of eating disorders in boys and young men is rising.
The causes of eating disorders in males aren’t that different from females. Boys with obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression or other emotional issues may be more susceptible. Genes may play a role in these problems, but not everyone ends up with an eating disorder. The person’s environment is what facilitates the behaviors.
For boys and young men, certain activities are highly associated with eating disorders. Wrestling is the classic example. Inappropriate weight loss methods used to lose weight before a competition, such as fasting, can push a susceptible boy over the edge into an eating disorder. Other body- and appearance-conscious activities and sports are increasingly linked to eating disorders in young men:
- Theater
- Dance
- Body building
- Fashion
- Long distance running
- Competitive cycling
In fact, one former competitive cyclist recently described enforced anorexia as a training method encouraged by teams, to reduce body weight.
Even some sports not associated with low body weight can put boys on a path to an eating disorder. In any team sport, when teammates or coaches hint that someone weighs too much, or share tips on muscle building regimens or supplements, susceptible boys can end up with a problem.
While eating disorders in boys are less common than in girls, parents should pay attention to any marked change in their sons’ weight or food choices. Some warning signs could be:
- A weight loss diet that never stops, even when weight becomes normal.
- Increasingly picky food choices, with growing lists of “bad” foods and food intolerances.
- Hiding the weight loss under baggy clothes.
- Constant weighing and talk about body weight and calories
- Binge eating is another eating disorder seen in boys. Obesity is the inevitable outcome.
Parents who suspect their son has an eating disorder should first consult with their pediatrician. Boys can certainly benefit from appropriate treatment.
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No, not all female athletes have eating disorders. Female athletes who compete in sports that emphasize appearance, weight, or require speed, lightness, agility and quickness are at higher risk for developing an eating disorder than are non-athletes or athletes in sports that require muscle mass and bulk.
Eating disorders are most common in female athletes that participate in the following sports:
- ballet and other dance
- figure skating
- gymnastics
- running
- swimming
- rowing
- horse racing
The three most common eating disorders found in athletes are; Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Compulsive Exercise. Nutrient deficiencies and fluid/electrolyte imbalance from low food intake can lead to increased risk of fractures, illness, loss of reproductive function and serious medical conditions such as dehydration, and starvation. The medical complications of this triad involve almost every body function and include the cardiovascular, endocrine, reproductive, skeletal, gastrointestinal, renal, and central nervous systems
The Female Athlete Triad
Women athletes with eating disorders often fit into a condition called the female athlete triad. This is a combination of too low energy availability (or calories), menstrual irregularities or loss of a period (called amenorrhea), and weak bones.
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There are some sports prone to weight loss and eating disorders however the research has not been able to show a correlation between athletes and eating disorders.
“Anorexia is more frequently found in athletes or professions that require thinness, such as modeling or ballet” (WebMD, 2003). Powers and Johnson (2003) further add to the list of at risk athletes by adding, gymnastics, figure skating, swimming and distance running. These are the “athletes (who) tend to be highly competitive, high achieving, and self disciplined individuals; who go to great lengths to excel in their sports. This personality type combined with the expectations of team mates and coaches as well as the spectators may make them at a higher risk of developing an eating disorder than the average person” (What You Need To Know About, n.d.). However, it is very difficult to identify athletes with eating disorders. They are often secretive or concerned about what the perception might be from their coaches, parents and friends.
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Sleep-related eating disorder (SRED) is a quite a mystery and the cause elusive. Many people with SRED started out as sleepwalkers or have been diagnosed with another sleep disorder, which points to a defect in sleep centers as the root cause.
Sleep is an extremely complicated biological process influenced by hormones and intertwined feedback systems. When the mechanism that controls wakefulness and sleep during a normal sleep cycles fails, a person can remain "asleep" but continue to walk, eat, or perform other activities (some people get in their cars and drive!). And paradoxically, SRED can also be brought on by certain sleep medications, which some people take to help them fall and stay asleep.
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Eating disorders probably developed as a survival mechanism; in times of famine, the group would need to migrate (think run on the treadmill for a prolonged period of time) with little to eat (induced starvation) until they found a better living situation. It was in each person’s best interest to survive the famine. When food was plentiful, it made sense physiologically to store some nuts up for the winter, or develop extra padding, to survive the next famine. That’s why fertility goddesses are all roly-poly, as fertility would not occur in the starved state, but only in times of plenty. And now that we have no sabertooth tigers to outrun, and most developed countries have plenty of food so no induced famine, nature seems to be activating that gene at the most inopportune times, with kids or adults creating similar starvation and over exercising patterns in an unhealthy way. Adaptive now? Not so much. Detrimental to health and well-being? Definitely.
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Girls and women are much more likely to develop eating problems than our male counterparts are and account for 90 percent of all diagnosed eating disorders. As women, we are taught to see ourselves in relation to others, to avoid confrontation, and to conform to societal ideals regarding thinness. We often compare ourselves to other women, even if we never admit it, and model ourselves according to what we think men find attractive. The media's constant pounding of a Western feminine ideal of thinness is evident in magazines, billboards, television sitcoms, and pop icons. This tacit "weightism," along with the more direct messages that children (and even adults) send through weight-based taunts and prejudice, contributes to body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. A recent study by researchers at the University of Minnesota found that teasing about body weight was consistently associated with low self esteem and depression, regardless of the subjects' weight.
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We don’t always have a sense of what is behind our emotional triggers. For some, this becomes very problematic and they will look to food for comfort or as a coping mechanism to help deal with the emotions that they do not understand. Some will reach for food to “numb” the feelings so that they do not experience the hurt. Some will reach for food to actively comfort the unwanted feelings. Either way, the use of food as a coping mechanism becomes a way to deal with the undesirable emotions.
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Some 10 million females and 1 million males in the United States suffer from the eating disorders anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. Many of them have perfectionist tendencies in terms of diet, exercise, body image, and weight. An international team of researchers led by investigators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has identified the top six personality/behavior traits among women with eating disorders. The six traits include obsessionality (the psychological term for a form of perfectionism) and concern over mistakes. Women with eating disorders have unrealistically high expectations in terms of weight, control over their diet, appearance, and exercise adherence. They restrict calories, binge and purge, or overexercise to reach their “perfect” weight; however, no matter how thin they get, they never feel they’ve reached their goal.
