3.6 KiB
3.6 KiB
- I listened to a podcast from NPR about eating disorders in young men and boys rising in prevalence, or at least in the number known. They mention how it was previously thought that the ratio of females to males with eating disorders was five to one, but now it is being estimated as closer to two or three to one. This is largely due to the idea that to be attractive, men should have as much muscle and as little fat as possible. As a result, many young men and boys are eating much less in an attempt to lose weight and going to the gym very often to gain muscle. Some of the causes described in the podcast is seeing male role models in movies and ads always being very lean with a lot of muscle, as well as other people complimenting guys more when they have lost more weight. One person describes his experience of praise he got after losing weight leading to him going to the gym several times a day and eating much less than he should have been to lose even more weight. I wasn't overly surprised by this information, since I have been exposed to many of the same influences and agree that the "ideal male physique" is harmful to body image. I do also think that one of the reasons for the rising rates of male eating disorders is because more young boys and men are going to doctors and asking for help like described in the podcast where a doctor talks about having more males as patients. Overall, this seems like a good thing and I am glad that more people feel comfortable seeking help and feel able to find ways to solve problems and move forward.
- The podcast that I listened to highlights the effects of eating disorders across many of the dimensions of wellness, including both social and physical. One of the situations that this podcast highlights as a challenge for people with eating disorders is going out to a restaurant with friends, and feeling like you could not participate in these things because you feel ashamed. This would likely cause a large impact on someones social life, and might make them fearful or anxious about certain situations and lead them to try and avoid them. The podcast also discusses the physical impacts of eating disorders, and how not getting enough nutrition for the body will lead to fatigue and being tired. Over time, this will take a toll on someones body, and especially if they are not able to sleep as well as a result of an eating disorder, it will lead to even farther reaching physical effects resulting from not getting enough sleep.
- I decided to look into eating disorders in older populations, since it seems like a group that is not often discussed in relation to eating disorders and weight loss. I used Google to look for information, and when searching a surprising amount of the results are from academic journals or reputable sources. One paper that I found was published in the Nutrients journal and is titled "Anorexia of Aging: Risk Factors, Consequences, and Potential Treatments." This paper describes the impacts of increasing age on a decrease in appetite and food intake. It also describes how this is a prevalent issue and how there are many factors from advancing age that promote a lack of appetite such as disease, lifestyle, and social conditions. It also discusses some solutions such as taking nutritional supplements and how these approaches are not often pursued in clinical practice. When searching for articles, the first few that I found seemed to be pretty good. Scrolling down revealed some that aren't directly related or from less reputable sources, but overall there was a good amount of reputable information when searching Google about this topic.