Eating disorders are usually associated with young women but health professionals are now seeing a growing number of young men also battling the illness. Figures show 10 per cent of those suffering eating disorders are male. 

Statistics show 30% of young people see body image as a serious issue. Of 3% of Australians diagnosed with an eating disorder, 10% are boys or young men.

Eating disorders carry the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness
The most common age group for women to develop an eating disorder is between 15 and 18; for young men it's 17 to 26.

Dr Simon Clarke is the head of the Department of Adolescent Medicine at Westmead Hospital. He's seeing a growing number of young men suffering the disorder.

Dr Clarke says there's no solid research into why young men are becoming more prone to eating disorders. He speculates that the rate of obesity is increasing, leading to more young men being bullied and picked on which can be be the catalyst for a crisis that pushes them the other way.

He finds that the young men he sees in hospital are very sick; they are arriving at hospital in a worse state than young women suffering the same condition.

Eating disorder triggers included genetics (if someone in your family has suffered an ED), an emotional crisis, or being bullied. The causes are the same for boys and girls.

Signs to look out for:

• weight loss
• excessive exercise
• disguising body shape (ie by wearing lots of clothes, even on hot days)
• picky about food (many sufferers will cook a lot, but won’t actually eat the food themselves)

If you suspect your child or someone you know is suffering an eating disorder, take them to a specialist eating disorders unit. Many hospitals aren't equipped to make the diagnosis and may send the patient home, because nothing appears wrong.

Mitchell's story
Mitchell Doyle is an 18 year old year 12 student who’s recovering from Anorexia

He first suffered the illness when he was 12 years old; he was a slightly chubby child and had been bullied, and he believes this bullying triggered the illness. He recovered with the help of his family and doctors, but relapsed when he was 16. The trigger was studying nutrition at school, and as part of the course, the students did BMI tests and the pinch test in front of class mates.

One of the biggest things Mitchell had to overcome was the stigma associated with anorexia in boys. He says he kept telling himself 'a real man doesn’t get anorexia'.

Mitchell recovered with the help of regular counselling, help from his PE teacher, and his family.

He’s now developed a 10 week self-esteem program for year 8 students at his school, which has helped his own recovery. He feels so strong now and plans to take a year off after HSC before going to Uni to become a social worker specialising in youth.

More info: Butterfly Foundation supports Australians with eating disorders.