Rethinking Eating Disorder Treatment: How to Better Support Men
"Experts weigh in on the unique challenges men face in eating disorder recovery and how treatment approaches can adapt to improve outcomes."
For many years, eating disorders have been seen primarily as affecting young women. However, research now highlights a significant rise in the number of men affected. These men often have unique challenges and needs that are not always addressed by standard treatment models.
Eating disorders in men are not only more common than previously thought but also present differently. Men are more likely to focus on muscularity, have a history of being overweight, and struggle with expressing emotions. This necessitates a closer look at current treatment strategies to ensure they effectively meet the needs of male patients.
Recognizing these differences is crucial for creating more inclusive and effective treatment environments. This article explores how clinicians are adapting their approaches to better support men in their journey to recovery from eating disorders, drawing upon a recent study published in BMJ Open.
A Significant but Underrecognized Concern
Eating disorders affect people across genders, but their impact on men remains difficult to measure because many cases may go unrecognized or unreported. A broader understanding of eating disorders should account for varied symptoms, body ideals, and barriers to seeking help. This uncertainty reinforces the need for more inclusive research and care.
Existing Care and Gendered Gaps
Current clinical guidance for eating disorders draws on established practice guidelines, including those from the American Psychiatric Association and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. However, boys and men remain underrepresented in eating-disorder research and care, while internalized stigma and masculinity norms may impair recognition and help-seeking. Muscularity concerns can be important drivers of eating disorders in males, so treatment and policy should represent diverse masculinities and directly address gendered barriers to care.
From Rare Exceptions to Wider Recognition
Historically, eating disorders were often framed as primarily affecting women, which likely shaped research priorities, diagnostic expectations, and service design. Recognition of eating disorders in boys and men has broadened over time, but the historical record remains incomplete because male experiences were frequently overlooked. A fuller history therefore requires attention to how gender assumptions influenced what clinicians and researchers identified.
Understanding the Unique Challenges Men Face with Eating Disorders
A significant finding is that men often experience unique challenges that differ from those typically seen in women with eating disorders. These include:
- Focus on Muscularity: Men tend to be driven more by a desire for a muscular physique than by a desire for thinness.
- Emotional Expression: Many men find it challenging to discuss or express their emotions, which can hinder progress in traditional therapy settings.
- Performance-Based Approach: Men may approach treatment with a focus on performance, attempting to 'eat their way out' of the disorder without addressing the underlying emotional issues.
Toward Tailored, Multidisciplinary Care
Recent treatment reviews describe care that may combine psychotherapy and medication to improve eating behaviors and other core symptoms. Because eating disorders are complex, treatment is often delivered by multidisciplinary teams that include medical providers, therapists, and dietitians, across varied settings. Current reviews also call for increased awareness and gender-inclusive approaches, while the APA reports that boys and men now make up about a third of those diagnosed and that treatment can largely mirror care for girls with adjustments for boys’ unique considerations.
Why Existing Models Miss Men
Research describes men as underrepresented in eating-disorder services, with limited recognition and detection contributing to that gap. Outdated ideas about who develops an eating disorder can restrict access to care, while current treatments are described as at best moderately effective and unable to work equally well for everyone. Male patients may also encounter services that do not reflect their experiences, summarized by the concern that there is “nothing there for guys.”
Shared Treatments, Different Presentations
The treatment literature includes established approaches as well as emerging methods, including research on virtual-reality cue-exposure therapy for treatment-resistant adults with bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder. At the same time, reviews of eating disorders in males emphasize that men may experience distinct stigmas, risk factors, clinical presentations, and treatment needs. The comparison suggests that common treatment frameworks may provide a foundation, but they should not replace assessment of gender-specific experiences.
The Path Forward: Tailoring Treatment and Creating Supportive Environments
While the journey to understanding and treating eating disorders in men is ongoing, significant strides are being made. By recognizing unique challenges, adapting treatment approaches, and creating supportive environments, clinicians can better meet the needs of male patients and promote lasting recovery.
Making Treatment More Responsive
Men’s experiences of eating-disorder treatment indicate that many current programmes remain tailored primarily to women, even as eating disorders among men are rising. Men also tend to seek help late in the course of illness and may remain undiagnosed after entering treatment. More responsive care should therefore improve recognition while ensuring that programmes reflect men’s varied experiences rather than assuming a single patient profile.
Building a More Inclusive Evidence Base
Future progress will likely depend on research and services that include men more consistently and examine how different gendered experiences shape eating disorders. Promising directions include improving early recognition, adapting interventions where needed, and reducing barriers to help-seeking. These priorities remain important because existing evidence does not yet fully represent the diversity of men affected.
Research, Training, and Access Gaps
Men now have more treatment options than they did a decade ago, but their needs remain largely unaddressed within a female-centric treatment system. One 2026 source reports that fewer than one-third of men with an eating disorder receive specialized care, while muscularity-focused presentations may be missed by traditional, female-oriented diagnostic tools. Broader reforms identified in the literature include addressing underfunded research, closing evidence gaps, improving clinician training, reducing societal stigma, and developing tailored interventions.
Recognizing Men’s Lived Experiences
For men living with eating disorders, delayed recognition can make the path to treatment longer and more difficult. Experiences of stigma, misunderstanding, or not seeing oneself represented in services may discourage disclosure and engagement. Care that listens to individual goals and recognizes varied forms of eating-disorder distress can help make support more accessible and relevant.