Читать реферат по английскому: "Anorexia Not Essay Research Paper Anorexia Not" Страница 1

(Назад) (Cкачать работу)

Anorexia: Not Essay, Research Paper

Anorexia: Not Just A Women s Disease

Oh I m so fat . This is not something we normally think of hearing out of a

man s mouth. Women are thought to be the only ones that obsess over their

appearance. Therefore, anorexia is commonly thought to be a woman s disease. But in

reality, there are many men fighting it. Out of the estimated eight million people in the

United States with anorexia, about ten percent of the cases are men (Something Fishy,

par.1). These are only reported cases. It is assumed that there is more, but the men haven t

come forward, since it is very hard for a man to admit to having this disease.

Nevertheless, there are a growing number of men in America with this disease, and it

needs to be dealt with. This paper will address the causes, affects, reason why they hide it,

and treatment of anorexia in men.

It is not known for sure what exactly causes anorexia in men. But there are a few

theories on it. One theory on the cause of anorexia in men is our culture today. Most

people think our culture only influences women with the constant pressure to be skinny,

with the magazines, and the skinny models, and everything. But actually, society

influences men to be thin quite a bit too. What s acceptable for a man s body shape is

very limited here in America. More and more magazines for men are about fitness, weight

lifting, and body building(Highlights, par. 6). The media and entertainment industry really

focuses on a nicely built, in shape man . So some men do feel pressure to be physically

fit. Of the men that are overweight, some may choose anorexia as a way to diet. Anorexia

in men is rare of course, but it does happen.

Another possible cause of anorexia in men could be the sports that they participate

in. Some common men s sports that are thought to cause anorexia are wrestling, ballet,

ice skating, horse racing jockeys, and gymnastics. In fact, one third of high school

wrestlers starve themselves to make weight (WebMd Health par. 14). High school

wrestling coaches encourage less eating, and low water intake, so that the wrestlers can

get into a lower weight class. And unlike with most sports, where the athletes stop their

behavior after the sports season is over, wrestlers tend to continue there behavior all year

round. An average wrestler s body fat is three percent lower than a normal high school

student s(WebMD Health par. 14).

For example, my brother has been in wrestling for nine years now. Although he s

not anorexic, he has done some crazy, and very unhealthy things for wrestling. His coach

makes the wrestlers spit all the time. I ve witnessed this at school. I could always tell who

the wrestlers were, because they would be walking down the hall and all of a sudden spit

into the garbage can. This was one of their many ways to dehydrate themselves to loose

weight. The wrestlers rarely ate anything at lunch when I was in school, and if they did, it

was hardly anything. I often noticed my brother wouldn t eat dinner with us at home, and

I got really worried. When I would nag him about eating, his response was always the

same, I have to make weight . This making weight as they called it, involves losing

enough weight so they can wrestle in a lower weight class, and therefore have a better

chance at winning. They are really pressured by their coach and fellow teammates to

loose weight. So I can see from my brother how a lot of wrestlers end up anorexic.

Most men will not admit to being anorexic, because it is commonly thought that

anorexia is a woman s disease. But there is another big reason why anorexic men will not

come forward. Society has always thought that a man who was anorexic, must be

homosexual. But society is mostly right about this. It is a fact that forty two percent of

men with anorexia are homosexual(WebMD Health, par. 5). This is thought to be because

of the high level of importance that gay men place on appearance when it comes to

succeeding in life. So it is very common for gay men to be anorexic. This is why a

straight man does not like to admit that he has the disease, for fear of being labeled gay.

Another reason a man may not want to admit that he is anorexic is because of the

shame. The man may feel very ashamed at what he does. He may think things like I m

discusting, and look at what I do to myself. He might worry that people will think he s

crazy if they find out. He may also fear the ridicule he might face from his fellow

buddies. Being a teased and called girlie. Or being acccused of not being very

manly. There are many reasons that men do not come forward with their disease.

There are many harmful affects of anorexia in men. When a man is anorexic, he

looses an average of fifteen to sixty percent of his normal body weight, which obviously

isn t very healthy(WebMD Health par.3). When men have anorexia, they are actually hit a

lot harder with affects than women are. There s more severe problems that strike anorexic

men, like dangerously low bone mineral density(WebMD Health, par.6). When a man is

anorexic, not only is he not eating properly, but he is also not drinking enough either. He

doesn t drink enough, if any, milk. It is normally very important to drink milk, but when

someone is anorexic, it is extremely crueshal. When an anorexic man does not get enough

calcium, he can develop a low bone marrow density. When someone has a low bone

Похожие работы