Body fat perception in eating‐disordered men

Abstract

These observations suggest that distorted body perception, rather than body ideal, may be central to eating disorders in men. This distinction may be important for both research and therapy.

Body Image Avoidance, Body Dissatisfaction, and Eating Pathology

“…This is consistent with previous research where athletes have reported greater eating disorder tendencies (Engel et al, 2003) and bodybuilders have exhibited similar levels of disordered eating compared with men with eating disorders (Mangweth et al, 2004). There are a number of reasons that may be contributing to the present results.…”

“…Within male body image research, bodybuilding has been of particular focus. Bodybuilders have been reported to experience distorted body image (Ravaldi et al, 2003), body dissatisfaction (Esco, Olson, & Williford, 2005), exercise dependence (Smith & Hale, 2005), and disordered eating and psychological characteristics similar to eating disorder sufferers (Mangweth et al, 2004). Based on these findings, the importance of investigating male body image concerns within the gym subculture is evident, particularly given the increasing number of males striving for masculine physiques.…”

Different changes of body-images in patients with anorexia or bulimia nervosa during inpatient psychosomatic treatment

“…We asked each patient to choose images representing her best estimate of her own body and of the body she would like to have. The ability of the somatomorph matrix in previous studies to detect statistically significant differences between groups (Cafri, Straus, & Thompson, 2002;Pope, Gruber, Mangweth, Bureau et al, 2000;Gruber, Pope, Lalonde, & Hudson, 2001;Leit, Gray, & Pope 2002;Lipinski & Pop, 2002;Mangweth et al, 2004;Yang, Gray, & Pope, 2005) prevails over the recently published criticism (Cafri, Roehrig, & Thompson, 2004).…”

Body Satisfaction in Gym-active Males: An Exploration of Sexuality, Gender, and Narcissism

“…However, striving for the perfect body is associated with a number of negative psychological outcomes including risk taking behaviours such as anabolic steroid use (e.g., Blouin and Goldfield 1995;Loosemoore and Moriarty 1990;Schwerin et al 1996), eating disorders (e.g., Andersen 1998;Herzog et al 1991;Mangweth et al 2004;Silberstein et al 1989), depression (Levesque and Vichesky 2006), plastic surgery (e.g., Baker 1994;Wilson 1997), shame related to a diminished sense of self (Higgins 1987), lowered psychological well-being (Maltby and Day 2001), and excessive exercise (e.g., Olivardia et al 2004). These risk-taking behaviours mark the degree to which males are willing to gamble with their health for aesthetics, particularly in countries where there are significant disposable incomes and advertising targeting perfect bodies, including America where much of this research is carried out, and Australia which is the context of the current study.…”