Body Image and Teenage Boys

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Boy considering residential treatment

Contributor: Leigh Bell, BA, writer for Eating Disorder Hope

Body image is a topic most often addressed with young girls and adolescent females, but as the number of males with eating disorders appears to increase, it is important to also talk body image with boys, especially during adolescence.

About 25% of people with eating disorders are males, and just as guys and girls want to change their bodies, according to the National Association of Men with Eating Disorders (NAMED).

Differences Between Women and Men with Eating Disorders

While women’s body dissatisfaction is normally rooted in weight, males with poor body image most often want to be bigger, stronger, and leaner. About 18 percent of young men are extremely concerned with their weight and physique, and almost 8 percent are using unhealthy means to achieve the body they want1. These males are statistically in danger for depression and illegal drug use.

Society points fingers, and perhaps rightly so, at Barbie and how the dolls’ unattainable body negatively affects girls’ body image and self-esteem. But look at action figures. Captain America, Batman, and even his sidekick Robin, are lean and ripped. Action figures that have been around for a while, like Luke Skywalker and G.I. Joe, are bigger and stronger than the decades-old versions2.

Males Media Image Is Becoming Less Attainable

Displeased motherMales in media are also leaner, stronger, and baring more skin than ever before. The result is a picture-perfect image of how men “should” look, and males having poor body image when they don’t. Guys become more depressed and less satisfied with their bodies the more they see TV advertisements showing men with “ideal” bodies3.

More than 20 years ago, scientists coined the term “reverse anorexia nervosa” to describe an obsession with muscularity, often unhealthy and found in men, only to later change the term to muscle dysmorphia4. These scientists were describing something male bodybuilders had long before deemed “bigorexia.” They all pointed to a growing problem.

Community Discussion – Share your thoughts here!

What changes have you seen within the media and male body image over the last 10 years? What impact do you believe this has had on boy image?

 
About the Author:

Leigh Bell holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with minors in Creative Writing and French from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She is a published author, journalist with 15 years of experience, and a recipient of the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism. Leigh is recovered from a near-fatal, decade-long battle with anorexia and the mother of three young, rambunctious children.

 
References:

  1. Field, A., Sonneville K., Crosby R., Swanson S., Eddy K., Camargo C., Horton, N, Micali, N. (2014). Prospective associations of concerns about physique and the development of obesity, binge drinking, and drug use among adolescent boys and young adult men. JAMA Pediatrics, 168(1), 34-39.
  2. Pope, H., Olivardia, R., Gruber, A., & Borowiecki, J. (1999). Evolving ideals of male body image as seen through action toys. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26(1), 65-72.
  3. Strother, E., Lemberg, R., Stanford, S.C., & Turberville (2012) Eating disorders in men: underdiagnosed, undertreated, and misunderstood. Eating disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention. 20(5), 346-355.
  4. 4 Pope H., Katz, D., Hudson, J. (1993). Anorexia nervosa and “reverse anorexia” among 108 male bodybuilders. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34, 406–409

Last Updated & Reviewed By: Jacquelyn Ekern, MS, LPC on June 19th, 2015
Published on EatingDisorderHope.com