Eating disorders among men, boys on the rise
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(NewsNation Now) — It’s not spoken about often, but the problem of eating disorders among men and boys is growing and affecting their lives in much the same ways it does women.
NewsNation’s Ileana Diaz spoke with Griffin Henry, a one-time high school baseball star who had hopes of making it to the pros someday. But when he met with college coaches, they wanted to see him become able to run faster.
That led to him running several miles a day and then starting eat less and less in an effort to trim down to move faster. Griffin’s parents noticed the weight loss and took him to several doctors, none of whom seemed concerned.
Without the help he desperately needed, Griffin continued to lose weight. His weight got so low he could no longer compete, and his heart rate slowed to such a degree that he had to be hospitalized.
“I really didn’t realize I had an eating disorder until I was hospitalized for my heart rate,” Griffin said. “It was scary.”
His mother, Linsey Henry, said, “We didn’t know that boys could have eating disorders. That was the last thing on our list. We were thinking it was more G.I. issues or depression.”
While eating disorders among men and boys are still under the radar, a 2019 Australian study found that 45 percent of middle school boys tried to control their weight by exercising compulsively or skipping meals, or that they had an unhealthy relationship with food. Doctors say the cases with boys are especially dangerous because they’re usually not detected early on.
After months of intensive in-patient treatment, Griffin is now three years into his recovery and doing well. His new mission is to bring awareness to the problems of eating disorders and depression among young men and boys, and many have reached out to him sharing their own stories. He says that social media is partially to blame for many of the problems, with the same sort of body-shaming seen among women and girls.
Griffin has retired his baseball cleats in favor of a pair of golf shoes these days, and he’s enjoying being healthier and spreading his message.
