The Prevalence of Eating Disorders in the Queer Community

In honor of pride month, we wanted to bring some awareness of how common eating disorders are among males who identify as gay. Gay men are a lot more likely to struggle with an eating disorder than straight men. Want some stats? According to NEDA, the National Eating Disorders Association, men who are gay are seven times more likely to report binge eating behaviors and twelve times more likely than straight men to report purging behaviors. 42% of males with eating disorders are gay (and only about 5% of the total male population identifies as gay). So as you can see, eating disorders are MUCH more prevalent in gay males than in heterosexual males.

WHY IS THAT?

Let’s talk about a few possible reasons this could be the case!

Gay men may have a fear of being rejected by friends or family or may have actually been rejected due to their sexual orientation. They also may have experienced discrimination or bullying because of their sexual orientation. This can bring up eating disorder behaviors for them in order to try to cope with or distract/numb from those feelings of rejection. These eating disorder behaviors can be restricting, bingeing, purging, laxative use, taking diet pills, obsessive exercise, and others. Feelings of rejection may also cause men who are gay to restrict or purge in an attempt to change their body to ‘fit in’ or feel more accepted by others. Bingeing can also come up after restricting food intake due to extreme hunger and obsessing about food.

It can be super beneficial for men who are struggling with these behaviors to see a dietitian and therapist. We can help them process through and challenge their eating disorder thoughts and behaviors and help guide them to body acceptance and creating a healthy relationship with food.

If you are or know anyone who is struggling with an eating disorder you can book a free consultation with a therapist or dietitian HERE.