A recent rise in men being treated for the eating disorder ‘anorexia’ has been blamed on the pressure to look good, according to experts.

Although traditionally associated with women, doctors are seeing a dramatic increase in male sufferers of anorexia and the head of the eating disorder unit at St.George’s Hospital in London believes it is down to increased social pressure on the male image.

“Last week for the first time ever I had more male referrals for anorexia than female,” said Professor Hubert Lacey.

“That was just one week this summer but I would say it has been increasing steadily in the past two or three years.”

Dubbed as ‘manorexia’, this latest comment comes as the number of men treated for anorexia has increased by 67% in the last five years. Men now account for 5-10% of all eating disorder sufferers.

“The disorder is still much more prevalent in females than males but the main increases have been in teenage boys,” added Professor Lacey.

“A few years ago it was often the case that my ward had no men on it. Now, on a ward of 20, I have three men.

“Statistics say that only 5 or 10 per cent of anorexia sufferers are men. Three out of 20 is more than that and I can only see the number of male referrals increasing.

“I don’t know why I’m seeing more men but an educated guess is that social changes mean image is more important to men than it used to be.”

Professor Lacey believes that men do not seek treatment for their condition because the disorder is considered to be a woman’s problem.

Numbers begin treated are also lower because there are fewer facilities for men and rules state that men are not allowed to occupy the same ward as girls under the age of 18.

“I know of some hospitals that don’t treat any men because of this rule,” he said.

“Because more females are referred for treatment some places have had to make a choice between the two and have chosen to treat women.

“It’s a shame, because while I can see why the rule is in place, the symptoms are exactly the same. They all have an intense fear of natural body weight.”

Mark Reilly from the eating disorder charity, B-eat has welcomed these latest comments as awareness of the problem among men should be increased to encourage them to come forward and receive treatment.

“Research suggests that 100,000 men in the UK have anorexia or bulimia, but that is based on the men who come forward,” he said.

“The true figure is much higher. There are still many blokes who don’t want to talk about health issues, including anorexia.”

Alternative medicine and complementary therapy can provide a confidential environment in which to discuss eating disorders such as anorexia.

Learn more about eating disorders and effective treatments here

Find a local practitioner