Boys' Body Image Worries

Eating disorders are usually considered the realm of women and girls. Boys, however, make up a growing share of those with body image concerns and eating disorders.

A recent study of adolescent boys, described at The Atlantic, concludes that boys, in contrast to girls, are usually less worried about thinness and are more worried about being muscular, leading them to fell pressure to gain weight.

Boys are increasingly susceptible to media images of men’s bodies. Like girls, they increasingly seek to emulate unachievable body types; but instead of trying to look like a supermodel, they’re trying to look like a superhero. Their ideal is to be like the Batman or Superman toy from their childhood, but only 1 or 2 percent of men naturally have the body type that is typically represented in action figures, according to Raymond Lemberg, a psychologist specializing in male eating disorders.

So rather than focus on thinness, boys are more likely to try to bulk up with steroids and protein powders, and through overexercise. But just as parents and professionals should be on the alert for signs of eating disorders among girls, they need to do the same with boys—looking for overconcern about weight and shape, as well as high-risk behaviors such as using steroids.

This development among males is disappointing. When people hope for equality of the sexes, I don’t think that the phenomenon of boys and men grappling with unrealistic body image standards is what they have in mind.