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Muscularity-Oriented Disordered Eating in Boys and Men

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Eating Disorders in Boys and Men

Abstract

To date, there has been a pervasive inattention toward men in the eating disorders (ED) field. Consequently, our knowledge of these conditions among men has largely been extrapolated from our knowledge of how EDs manifest in women. Men and women often report distinct idealized appearances, which, conceivably, has the potential to precipitate distinct spectra of unhealthy eating behaviors, each designed to move one closer to attaining these body types. Namely, men often report a drive to acquire a physique characterized by overt muscularity, which is in stark contrast to the overly thin body ideal often pursued by women. And while we have a far richer understanding about the maladaptive eating and exercise behaviors one may engage in to become increasingly thin, a relative paucity of research has been devoted to exposing those associated with the pursuit of muscularity and their consequences. Tellingly, in its current state, our conceptualization of disordered eating as it pertains to most men may be profoundly limited. As such, this chapter will synthesize the available literature to provide an overview of what we currently understand about muscularity-oriented disordered eating among men. In achieving this, we first provide the reader with an appreciation of the specific medical challenges facing boys and men driven to enhance their muscularity. Second, we describe the muscular physique pursued by many men and the prevalence of concomitant body dissatisfaction. Third, we underscore the unique array of ED pathologies which could accompany the pursuit of muscularity. Fourth, we raise issues regarding existing recognized and gold-standard ED assessment tools in adequately indexing muscularity-oriented concerns and related ED pathology. Finally, we close the chapter by offering a number of important directions for future research, particularly related to improving our understanding of muscularity-oriented disordered eating in clinical populations, and further consideration about how to best incorporate this knowledge into widely used ED assessment and treatment efforts to better address this nascent clinical phenomenon.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In this chapter, we use the terms males and boys/men interchangeably.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Mitchell L. Cunningham

  2. Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Jason M. Nagata

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USC Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Stuart B. Murray

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  1. Mitchell L. Cunningham
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  2. Jason M. Nagata
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  3. Stuart B. Murray
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stuart B. Murray .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Jason M. Nagata

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA

    Tiffany A. Brown

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, USC Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Stuart B. Murray

  4. Department of Medicine, Military Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (MiCOR) Program, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, The Metis Foundation, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Jason M. Lavender

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Cunningham, M.L., Nagata, J.M., Murray, S.B. (2021). Muscularity-Oriented Disordered Eating in Boys and Men. In: Nagata, J.M., Brown, T.A., Murray, S.B., Lavender, J.M. (eds) Eating Disorders in Boys and Men. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67127-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67127-3_3

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