Boys and Anorexia

Anorexia Nervosa is a medical term which means “nervous loss of appetite.” In recent years, anorexia has been on the rise, fueled in many ways by society’s pressure to be thin and to be perfect, an ever present reality thanks to both social media and marketing. While anorexia is more prevalent in our girls, a growing number of males are struggling with it as a result of body image concerns. It’s usually reported that ten percent of anorexics are males. A recent study in Australia found that about thirteen percent of adolescent males struggle with some kind of eating disorder. For males, the concern that most often drives them into body dysmorphia is a perceived lack of muscle. Here in the U.S., it was found that about thirty percent of adolescent boys attempt to gain weight and increase muscle mass. Parents, we need to counter the culture’s influence by constantly reminding our kids that God is most concerned with our hearts.