The changing face of eating disordersThe changing face of eating disorders
All In The Mind
In a world fixated on how we look and what we eat, it’s not surprising that body dissatisfaction represents an increasing mental health issue—and it affects all body types, genders, and ages. Whilst anorexia nervosa is still a significant condition for girls and young women, some boys can experience a condition called muscle dysmorphia.
29:06•14 Apr 2019
The Changing Face of Eating Disorders: Beyond the Stereotypes
Episode Overview
- Eating disorders affect all genders, ages and body types, and cannot be identified reliably by appearance alone.
- Boys and men increasingly experience body image pressures, including muscle-focused ideals that can lead to muscle dysmorphia and steroid use.
- Social media strongly fuels unrealistic body standards, making media literacy a key prevention tool for young people and parents.
- Effective treatment often involves evidence-based psychological therapies and a multidisciplinary team, tailored to each individual.
- Recovery is highly personal and can include redefining self-worth, challenging perfectionism and separating identity from the disorder.
“It’s the misery inside someone’s head. Their body type shouldn’t come into it, really.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction to appearance and control around food? This episode of All In The Mind looks at how eating disorders today cut across age, gender and culture, and why old stereotypes are failing so many people. You’ll hear from Mitch Doyle, who was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa at just 11 years old.
Bullied about his body and desperate to fit in, his thinking narrowed to, as he puts it, “food equals fat, fat equals bad. Stop eating.” Mitch talks about the extra shame of being a boy with what was seen as a “female” disorder, and how later therapies that targeted his core beliefs and self-worth, rather than food alone, became “the lifesaver” for him. Researcher Dr Scott Griffiths explains how the “face” of eating disorders has shifted.
He points out that the old picture of a young, affluent woman no longer reflects the majority, stressing that “eating disorders don’t discriminate” and that you can’t tell who’s suffering just by looking. He outlines muscle dysmorphia in males, rising steroid use, and alarmingly high rates of eating disorders among transgender people, arguing that these conditions are a moral issue for society, not a vanity problem. From the Butterfly Foundation, Danny Rowlands shares both professional and lived experience.
She talks about the Reset schools program for boys, growing body dissatisfaction among young males, and the huge impact of social media. Their work focuses on social media literacy, early help-seeking and breaking stigma so boys and girls feel less alone and more able to speak up. Across personal stories and research, one message stands out: it’s “the misery inside someone’s head” that matters.
If body image and food are making life feel smaller and more painful, could this be the nudge to reach out for proper support?
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