When we hear the term "eating disorder," most people imagine a thin, anxious teenage girl afraid of carbs and counting every calorie. That image is not wrong, but it is dangerously incomplete.
New research reveals that more than 1 in 5 boys and young men today meet the criteria for a clinical eating disorder. That's not a fringe issue. That's an epidemic. And unlike their female peers, many of these boys will suffer in silence, misdiagnosed, misunderstood, or missed entirely.
It's time to explode the myth that eating disorders are "just a girl thing." Boys are struggling too, just differently.
Most doctors and teachers don't recognize the symptoms of eating disorders in boys because they don't match the stereotypes. Boys rarely chase extreme thinness. Instead, they're chasing a look: lean, muscular, "cut." The six-pack. The V-shaped torso. Shoulders like a Greek statue, waist like a wasp.
The tactics they use to chase this ideal include:
Compulsive over-exercising
Strict calorie counting
Binge eating followed by fasting or "punishment" workouts
Laxative use or "cleanses"
Extreme supplement or steroid use
It doesn't look like anorexia, and it doesn't always look unhealthy. Often, it looks like discipline. It looks like someone trying to "bulk" or "cut." In a fitness-obsessed culture, these behaviours are even praised, until they spiral out of control.
The 2025 Eating Behaviors study broke the silence with numbers that can't be ignored:
21.3% of males aged 15–35 showed signs of a probable eating disorder.
Gay and bisexual boys were more than twice as likely to develop disordered eating patterns.
Boys with a higher BMI faced a significantly higher risk, likely due to social pressure and stigma.
So the profile isn't just the "skinny, anxious guy." It's the kid in the gym who won't skip leg day, the footy player obsessed with macros, the high-BMI teen fasting in secret to fit in. Or the closeted teen seeking control in a chaotic social world.
They often don't talk about it. Because they don't know they can.
The medical system was never built to recognize male eating disorders. That's not hyperbole, early diagnostic tools literally used female biology (like menstrual loss) as criteria. Boys weren't overlooked; they were excluded by design.
Even today, screening tests and treatment programs remain largely female-focused. A boy might binge 9,000 calories in a "cheat meal" after starving himself all week and still be told by a doctor, "You're healthy — just active." Meanwhile, his gut, brain, and self-image are in freefall.
Muscle dysmorphia, or the belief that you're never muscular enough, is now a central driver of male disordered eating. It is common, debilitating, and virtually invisible to the average GP.
And culturally? We still tell boys to "man up," "eat more," and "push through." We teach them that eating disorders are for girls, and in doing so, we abandon them.
Let's pivot from problem to solution. While traditional therapy is vital, there's a growing recognition that the gut plays a powerful role in eating disorders, particularly the obsessive thought loops and emotional dysregulation that fuel them.
The gut-brain axis is a two-way communication system. When the gut is inflamed, unbalanced, or dysbiotic, the brain gets chaotic. Cravings intensify. Emotional resilience drops. Panic and obsession take over.
Here's how to begin to repair that system, for you or someone you love:
1. Check the gut first
Bloating, irregular bowel movements, food intolerances, these are not just digestive quirks. They're distress signals. Fix the terrain before throwing more "health foods" into an inflamed gut.
2. Cut out industrial seed oils
Canola, soybean, sunflower, these damage gut lining and mitochondria. Switch to butter, ghee, tallow. You wouldn't pour petrol on a fire.
3. Go easy on fibre
Raw greens, oats, and beans aren't "healing" if your gut can't process them. Start with white rice, cooked fruit, and peeled root vegetables.
4. Support microbial recovery
Eventually, introduce a timed-release Akkermansia supplement to restore the gut's mucus lining. This enables your body to produce butyrate, a healing molecule that calms inflammation and supports emotional stability.
5. Minimise EMFs and endocrine disruptors
Limit plastic use, avoid wireless devices on the body, and consider filtered water. These compounds and exposures impact hormones, mitochondria, and you guessed it — the gut.
We can't wait for the medical system to catch up. We need to change the culture now:
Parents: Learn the new warning signs. Your son's obsession with "macros" or hours in the gym might not be discipline — it might be distress.
Teachers and coaches: Understand that "normal weight" does not equal "mental health."
Clinicians: Advocate for male-sensitive diagnostic tools and mixed-gender treatment spaces.
Boys and men: You're not weak. You're not broken. If food, body image, or fitness are controlling your life, it's time to talk.
The eating disorder epidemic among boys isn't coming. It's here. It just doesn't look like what we're used to seeing.
We owe our sons/grandsons more than silence. We owe them recognition, understanding, and treatment that works for them. And for many, the path to healing begins not with willpower, but with restoring the gut, retraining the brain, and rebuilding the self.
Story at-a-glance
More than 1 in 5 boys have eating disorders, with binge eating and purging being most common, yet doctors often miss these problems because they're looking for different symptoms
Boys with eating disorders usually chase muscle and leanness rather than extreme thinness, following strict food rules and over-exercising while still looking "healthy" to others
Gay and bisexual boys face twice the risk compared to straight boys, and boys with higher body weight are also more likely to develop these disorders
Medical tools for spotting eating disorders were made with girls in mind, so they miss key warning signs in boys like muscle obsession, binge "cheat meals" and punishing workout routines
Gut health plays a key role in recovery through the gut-brain axis; strategies like eliminating vegetable oils and rebuilding beneficial gut bacteria help alleviate symptoms of disordered eating
Boys and young men are quietly facing a mental health crisis that almost no one is talking about. Eating disorders, long mislabeled as a "female problem," are now affecting males in ways the medical system isn't equipped to recognize, much less treat. The behaviors look different. The symptoms are often dismissed. And the damage is happening earlier and cutting deeper than many people realize.
What's even more troubling is how often these disorders go undetected. Parents, teachers and even health care providers often miss the warning signs in boys because they don't look like the conventional red flags: extreme thinness, fear of weight gain or visible emotional distress around eating. Instead, boys tend to chase leanness and muscle definition.
They follow rigid diet rules, binge in private or use exercise as a form of punishment — all while appearing "normal" on the outside.
This mismatch between how eating disorders show up in boys and how they're officially diagnosed is at the heart of the problem. Most clinical tools were designed with female experiences in mind, and they don't catch the behaviors that are destroying boys' physical and mental health from the inside out. This article explores the latest data on how widespread male eating disorders really are, why they're so often missed and how to reverse this silent epidemic.
The Eating Disorder Epidemic No One Is Talking About
A 2025 study published in Eating Behaviors set out to determine how common eating disorders are among males — a group that's long been underrepresented in mental health research.1
Using a large sample of 1,553 boys and men ages 15 to 35 from across the U.S. and Canada, researchers used standardized diagnostic tools to assess who met criteria for various eating disorders. The goal was to get updated, accurate prevalence rates and identify which social and personal factors increase risk.
•More than 1 in 5 males met clinical thresholds for an eating disorder — The findings were eye-opening: 21.3% of participants qualified for a probable eating disorder. Bulimia nervosa was the most common diagnosis at 5.8%, followed by binge eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa was rare by comparison, diagnosed in only 0.3% of the sample.
•Boys most affected by disordered eating weren't who you'd expect — The highest odds of disordered eating showed up in two main groups: sexual minority males (gay and bisexual) and those with a higher body mass index (BMI).
Gay and bisexual boys had more than double the odds of being diagnosed compared to heterosexual peers. Each unit increase in BMI also raised the likelihood of an eating disorder by 18% — a strong indicator that weight stigma is fueling these issues.
•Extreme dieting and binge eating were common but often hidden — Boys in the study reported a wide range of disordered behaviors, from strict calorie-cutting and detox diets to binge eating, laxative use and compulsive exercise.
But because many of these behaviors don't match the stereotypical eating disorder profile, like thinness or food aversion, they're easily missed in clinical settings. This blind spot leads to delayed diagnoses and worsens long-term outcomes.
•The worst symptoms were found in those seeking muscular perfection — Males with eating disorders weren't necessarily trying to be thin. Many were striving for a lean, "cut" physique — broad shoulders, a narrow waist and defined abs.
This focus on shape rather than size meant they often binged, fasted or overexercised to sculpt their body. But because they might still have "normal" or even above-average weight, the severity of their disorder was often underestimated.
Standard Assessments Miss Male Eating Disorders by Design
The video Hidden in Plain Sight: Men with Eating Disorders explored why boys and men are underdiagnosed with eating disorders and how current screening tools fail them.2 Eating disorders are among the most gender-biased mental health conditions, a failure that dates back to decades of research built almost exclusively around female experiences.
•Current diagnostic tools are based on outdated female-centered criteria — According to the video, much of the standard medical understanding of anorexia was originally built around female symptoms like amenorrhea, the absence of menstruation.
Since men don't menstruate, they were excluded by default from decades of research and recognition. Instead of showing up with thinness or dramatic weight loss, men often present with muscle obsession, compulsive exercise and rigid control over their eating habits.
•Males present different warning signs, but doctors aren't trained to look for them — For men, binge eating is often hidden inside culturally accepted behaviors like "cheat meals" or strict bulking and cutting cycles. Some consume up to 9,000 calories in one sitting, yet don't feel the same emotional distress as women. Because of that, many male patients aren't flagged by conventional assessments.
•Male patients are often misjudged due to body size or muscle mass — Many boys with disordered eating have normal or high body weights, which makes them seem "healthy" to clinicians who associate risk with being underweight. Yet these boys are frequently engaging in intense food restriction, diet pill use or punishing workout regimens.
•Muscle dysmorphia plays a central role but is often missed — Muscle dysmorphia is a condition where boys believe they're not muscular enough — no matter how fit they are. It drives extreme behaviors: constant lifting, extreme supplement use, food rules and social isolation. The video described this as a "pathological pursuit of muscularity," one that mirrors the drive for thinness seen in girls with anorexia but is rarely acknowledged in boys.
Cultural norms around masculinity complicate the picture even more. A boy who overeats is often seen as lacking discipline rather than struggling with an actual mental health condition. This keeps boys from speaking up, asking for help or even recognizing they have a problem in the first place.
•Treatment spaces often feel unwelcoming or alienating to male patients — Many boys report feeling out of place in eating disorder treatment programs, which are often geared toward women. Everything from reading materials to how the treatment is discussed often fail to reflect male experiences. As a result, boys often enter therapy feeling defensive, ashamed or like they don't belong — barriers that reduce their chances of recovery.
Restoring Gut Health Helps Alleviate Symptoms by Influencing the Gut-Brain Axis
If you've been struggling with disordered eating, intense food rules or obsessive thoughts about your body — especially if those habits feel out of your control — your gut could be part of the reason. I'm not just talking about digestion.
I'm talking about how your gut communicates with your brain, shapes your mood and regulates your hormones. That connection is called the gut-brain axis, and when it's off, your ability to make calm, rational decisions around food and body image goes with it.
Fixing gut health helps alleviate anorexia,3 while your gut-brain axis also plays a key role in food addiction and binge eating disorders.4 If you're someone with a long list of food intolerances, frequent bloating, inconsistent bowel movements or loose stools, your gut terrain is likely damaged. And until that damage is addressed, no mindset shift or therapy protocol is going to fully stick. Here's where I would start:
1.Assess your gut before making any changes — You need to understand the state of your gut before overhauling your food or workout routine. Ask yourself these questions: Do you get bloated after eating? Are you skipping days without having a bowel movement? Does fiber make you feel worse?
Do you suffer from chronic diarrhea or loose stools? If you said yes to at least three, your gut is sending distress signals — and it's not ready for high-fiber health foods yet. Starting here will give you more power over your next steps.
2.Avoid fiber until your gut heals — When your gut lining is inflamed or leaky, even healthy carbs like lentils, oats and raw greens create more harm than good. They ferment quickly in the wrong microbial environment, producing gas, pressure and inflammation. For now, keep it simple. I recommend white rice and whole fruit — foods that are easy on your system and give your cells clean fuel without feeding the invaders.
3.Pick carbs that nourish you without feeding bad microbes — Your small intestine isn't designed to ferment — it's built to absorb. Fast-digesting carbs like white rice or fruit pass through without lingering, which means they won't feed harmful bacteria. Once symptoms improve, layer in foods like peeled potatoes, cooked squash and then root vegetables. But don't rush it. You need a solid microbial foundation before reintroducing heavy fibers.
4.Cut out vegetable oils and support your gut at a cellular level — If you're still eating vegetable oils like canola, soybean or sunflower oil, it's like throwing gasoline on a gut fire. These oils damage your mitochondria and gut lining, tanking cellular energy and making healing nearly impossible. Swap them for butter, ghee or tallow.
Also reduce your exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which further impair cellular energy and negatively impact the oxygen-free gut environment that beneficial bacteria need to thrive — especially Akkermansia, a species that maintains your mucus layer and supports healing from the inside out.
5.Rebuild your gut lining with the right bacteria — After six months off vegetable oils, you can start to rebuild your gut with a timed-release Akkermansia supplement. These bacteria strengthen the mucus layer in your colon, which creates the ideal terrain for butyrate-producing microbes. Butyrate is your body's master healing molecule.
It repairs your gut lining, calms immune overactivation and puts the brakes on whole-body inflammation. Without it, your gut — and your brain — stay stuck in survival mode.
Restoring your gut isn't just about fixing digestion — it's about regaining control over your thoughts, habits and emotional resilience. When your gut is balanced, your brain becomes clearer, your cravings lose their grip and your relationship with food begins to normalize. Whether you're battling anorexia, binge eating or obsessive food thoughts, healing your gut terrain is one of the most powerful moves to support lasting recovery.