(RxWiki News) Television, movies and media would all have you believe that eating disorders such as binge eating, anorexia and over exercising only affect women. New research shows that more men binge eat than previously reported.
As new research suggests, men are just as likely as women to binge eat. But does binge eating impair men the way it does women?
"Talk to you doctor about treatment for eating disorders"
Ruth H. Striegle Ph.D. and professor of psychology at Wesleyan University seems to think so.
Dr. Striegle co-authored a cross sectional study comparing 21,743 men and 24,608 women. Researchers found that of the groups studied, 1,630 men and 2,754 women engaged in binge eating. Additionally, men and women showed comparable levels of impairment caused by binge eating.
Of the 7.5% of men and 11.2% of women who engaged in binge eating in the study, both sexes showed greater impairment as compared to men and women who did not binge eat at all.
But all of this brought researchers to a larger question: why aren’t more men included in binge eating and other eating disorder studies?
The discrepancy between men who are impaired by binge eating and those who are actually studied seems too large to discount, according to the Wesleyan researcher. The study was quick to conclude that men need to be included in future studies of eating disorders, including binge eating.
This study was published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
