#rs/class/hea150 #rs/discussion - - - ### Replying to Addison Hi Addison, I read the article from NPR about eating disorders among men as well, and I was surprised by the numbers for the ratio of men to women with eating disorders. It was pretty surprising to me how different the old and new ratios are, and how much data it seems like we have been missing or how much of a change in behavior there has been relating to eating disorders. I also chose to look at research focusing on an older audience around eating disorders, although I looked more at the elderly population. It is interesting to me how every age range has risks for developing eating disorders, although there are many different reasons for this happening. Younger people might develop them due to unhealthy body images, middle-aged people might develop them due to stressors such as divorce or parental death, and older people might develop them due to disease or lifestyle changes. ### Replying to Suri Hi Suri, The article that I read was also about eating disorders in young men, although it looked at it more generally. I agree that body image and low self-esteem can harm anyone, and there are many different sources or ideals that this might come from. The information about eating disorders among French college students is interesting, I didn't realize that such a large portion of students would suffer from an eating disorder. I wonder what the number would be for college students in other countries, and if it is similar to those in France. ### Replying to Alan Hi Alan, I read an article from NPR which also discusses eating disorders among young men, although a little more broadly. I agree with your point about bias around who can develop eating disorders leading to an under diagnoses of men with eating disorders, which explains the statistic mentioned in my article that now people estimate the ratio of women to men with eating disorders to be closer to 2-3 to 1 rather than 10 to 1. It is interesting to me that muscle dysphoria is most prevalent in men who internalize the "muscular ideal" and not the "thin ideal." It seems to me that this might be one of the differences between the causes of eating disorders generally in men and women where women tend to be focused more on being thin, and men tend to focus more on being muscular due to societal expectations. ### Replying to Mariama Hi Mariama, Your description of eating disorders in South Korea is very interesting, and I didn't realize how much of an economic impact that they could have on a country. It is interesting to think about how even if countries might be taking an economic hit from eating disorders, there are many companies, especially in the United States, that are likely profiting off of them by selling more unhealthy food, supplements or something else.