Being active on a daily basis is constantly being reinforced to stay healthy. For many, participation in sports can provide a healthy lifestyle and enjoyable experience that promotes self-esteem and reduces chances of attaining an eating disorder. However, some environments do suggest risks of eating disorders especially for athletes. The prevalence of eating disorders has become more prevalent in Western society for multiple reasons. Civilization is becoming to recognize that these behaviours are not only affecting teenage women but also men and children who prosper to be and are athletes. Fans and spectators are only shown an athletes physique when they are on the front cover of a popular magazine. Although athletes continuously exercise …show more content…
It is so commonly thought that eating disorders only pertain to women. This collective thought not only divides the sexes; it also disguises how real the effects of eating disorders are. I could have easily guided my research to solely focus on eating disorders in female athletes but I would then be missing a large portion of data that continues to develop as the effects of Western culture intensifies. Men are continuously being affected negatively by images in the media feeling the pressures forced upon them more and more. A 2004 study shows that non-athlete female controls and elite male athletes roughly met the same criteria for eating disorders (Sundgot-Borgen& Torstveit, 2004). During this time, these results were seen as unexpected since eating disorders were considered a feminine disease. Men have been ignored throughout the process of diagnosis and treatment. In males, excessive exercise can be completed for either caloric intake or weight loss to promote better health which concludes with self-starvation (Strother, Lemberg, Stanford & Turberville, 2012) As society has continued to emphasize the unrealistic standard of the ideal body more males have acquired an eating