The number of men in Scotland being treated for serious eating disorders has tripled in the past year, according to new data from the Priory Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland. Dr. Alex Yellowees, medical director and lead clinician for the eating disorders unit at Priory Hospital, reported the 300 percent increase in referrals in a 12-month period.

Dr. Yellowees warns that men are currently where women were 15 years ago, and that the numbers of men with eating disorders may continue to increase in the same fashion. "We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg as was the case in women in the 1990s. I think it is reasonable to predict an increase in the number of men being referred in Scotland. There's a lot more out there."

Dr. Yellowees also commented on changing values among young men that are contributing to the rise in eating disorders: "Young men are now adopting values and beliefs about body image that almost exclusively belonged to women. There is a blurring of gender roles in society. Young men were previously afraid of coming forward because they knew society viewed it as a women's problem. They feared that if they came forward their sexuality would be questioned. I think that prejudice is breaking down now. The idealisation of thinness still affects women more but there is an increasing trend of men adopting previously held ideas of thinness that women held."

(Source: www.dailyrecord.co.uk)

Labels: eating disorder, dr yellowees, scotland

Posted By: Aspen Education Group