NBC Spotlights Anorexia Among Boys And Young Men
By: Scott Ragan
2.23.2012
A few months ago we posed a question to our readers in a post called "Is Our Body Obsession Hurting Young Boys?" This came after The Today Show aired a segment on the growing popularity of bodybuilding among teen boys. This week NBC Nightly News further expanded on the topic of male-oriented body issues in the revealing report "Boys dying to be thin: the new face of anorexia." Below are excerpts from NBC writer Yardena Schwartz's article spotlighting three young men who battled anorexia - two of them who received treatment - and one who eventually died from the disease.
Brick, N.J.: Lindsey Avon and her 28-year-old husband Victor have been together for 10 years. But when Victor decided to lose some weight in college, Lindsey had no idea what he was really going through. It wasn’t until Victor checked himself into an inpatient eating disorder treatment center that Lindsey, 29, realized her then-boyfriend was fatally anorexic.
Santa Cruz, Calif.: Nearly all of Avi Sinai’s school friends were girls, who constantly talked about how “fat” they were and how they longed to be thinner. Avi’s mom and his girlfriends’ mothers were shocked that Avi, just 10 at the time, was the one who succumbed to the obsession with being skinny.
Okemos, Mich.: Susan Barry, 60, spends every day wishing she had known more about male anorexia when her son, TJ Warschefsky, was still alive. He died in 2007 at the age of 22 after an eight-year battle with the disease. His heart gave out in the middle of his nightly routine of 1,000 sit-ups. He weighed 78 pounds. “He didn’t want to be skinny,” Barry said of TJ, who was a star athlete and straight-A student. “He wanted a six pack, he wanted rock hard abs. That’s how it all started.”
Watch the full NBC Nightly News video report below, which originally aired on 2/22.
Comments
We make ourselves so miserable over body image. When I was 22, I thought no guys would be into me because I was skinny and not a young muscle god and couldn't seem to gain weight to save my life. This was pre-internet in a small town and I had no idea a lot of men were turned on by slender boys or that it was a body type many men wished for (I'd never even heard the word "twink"). I was, in hindsight, what a lot of these boys long to be, but I wasted my teens and twenties being a depressed loner and basically had no fun because I had things so twisted around in my head. Anybody can develop a distorted body image, on either end of the spectrum.
Just the other day I was chatting and camming with a 22-year-old who seemed to have a major complex about being a little heavy (I gathered from our chat that his whole family struggled with weight and that he wasn't just heavy because he liked to eat). He was far from obese, he just looked like a cute bear cub. Cute face, adorable smile, seemed like a nice guy, but he didn't look like an Abercrombie and Fitch model and so he was down on himself. It made me sad and reminded me of myself at his age. Wished I could reach through the cam and take him in my arms and smother him with kisses. It's heartbreaking to see boys who should be happy and having a wonderful time enjoying their youth instead sitting alone in their rooms in a puddle of tears, because they think they're worthless if they don't look like underwear models.
I could relate to your story. I was the same way until dear old 30 came round and my matabolism slowed. The next time your "camming" with fatty tell him there's a healthy way to loose weight. And it's not sitting infront of his computer "chatting" with you.
Sorry. I'm front New York.
"Fatty" , That's exactly why people have horrible image problems. There are nicer ways to say things.
I can kind of understand how fashion can influence women to dangerously desire the "Model Thin" look. I can see how images of pop culture can unintentionally dictate what should be easy on the eyes. But when was a super skinny man ever pleasing to the eyes. I mean seeing the Hipsters of the Lower East Sides in a pair of skinny jeans is only cute because they sometimes have a nice butt. Idk. I too would diet and work out when I felt I was getting to big. The one thing I always looked forward was reaching my desired weight so I can start eating again. I love food.
I am a retired gay man, and when I was younger, this obsession with muscle-building had not yet arrived. Why do people have to take these things to extremes? Why do they care more about what others might think of them than they think of themselves? I love to see a swimmer's body, and not those unnatural-looking muscle monsters. They are not pretty to me. What will it take to get over this craze?
OMG...I knew this was coming. The US's love affair with abs and perfect, muscular bodies was sure to lead to an epidemic of anorexia sooner or later. This is one of the most insane obsessions I have yet to see. Get over it, guys, chiseled delineated abs are not natural, and...when you think about it, not sexy. There is nothing sensuous looking about anorexia and abnormal absence of body fat. In fact, it looks sick.
I am the first to tell you I love a good male body, but a body at 2-3% body fat is not a good male body...This ill-advised body was generated in body building contests about 15 years ago. Body builders, themselves, will be the first to tell you it isn't healthy. This is a serious warping of a good thing.
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