Attraction to men can lead to eating disorders. This is the opinion of scientists from Madrid. “Men tend to pay more attention to the physical aspects than women when choosing a partner” — already emphasized in the introduction of the research. This, in turn, can lead to those seeking their favor to try to achieve the “ideal of beauty”.
- People who feel physically attracted to men are more likely to develop an eating disorder, according to researchers in Madrid
- These disorders include, among others anorexia and bulimia, and the important factors of their occurrence are problems with self-acceptance and pressure from the environment
- Researchers note that men pay more attention to the physical appearance of their partners, which in turn may lead to excessive weight loss and attempts to fit into certain canons of beauty by people interested in them
- Although the study of scientists from Comillas Pontifical University confirmed their assumptions, it was conducted on a group of only 398 people
- More important information can be found on the TvoiLokony home page
Eating disorders are classified as mental disorders and require treatment. The most common disorders are anorexia and bulimia. Also called anorexia nervosa, anorexia is characterized by intensive slimming, which the patient does not stop even when the body is extremely weak. Bulimia nervosa (bulimia nervosa) is associated with bouts of compulsive gluttony followed by so-called compensatory behaviors, such as vomiting or excessive physical activity.
Eating disorders can be caused by depression, neurosis, addictions, long-term stress, as well as problems with self-acceptance and excessive pressure from the environment.
- «Marshmallow, kabanos sausages, a jar of matias, spaghetti with ketchup – that’s what I remember …»
Male attraction and eating disorders
According to researchers from Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, “regardless of sexual orientation, when choosing a partner, men place greater emphasis on physical appearance, while women place greater emphasis on other factors such as personality, status, power and income.” This approach, in turn, may make those interested in them strive to achieve certain standards of beauty — including a perfectly slim figure — just to please men.
Scientists therefore set out to check whether sexual attraction to men is one of the risk factors for developing eating disorders. The participants’ task was to fill in special online questionnaires, which included questions such as gender, age, weight, height, sexual orientation, relationship status and symptoms of eating disorders. In the last case, scientists asked, inter alia, about striving for a perfectly slim figure, dissatisfaction with your own body and bulimia.
Questionnaires were shared via social media, including through LGBTQ + associations to diversify the sample. In total, 398 heterosexual and homosexual women and men participated in the study. Train to men was reported by 68 percent. surveyed women and 45 percent. men.
- Deadly weight loss
Conclusions – attraction to men matters
As predicted by scientists participants who were attracted to men showed higher levels of eating disorder symptoms than heterosexual men and lesbians.
While homosexual men much more often declared striving for a perfectly slim figure, women indicated that they were dissatisfied with their own body. For women, however, the situation is somewhat more complex as the dissatisfaction rate was high regardless of sexual orientation.
Our results seem to indicate that while male attraction is the main risk factor for eating disorders in homosexual men, there are other cultural factors to consider in addition to male attraction to heterosexual women.
— researchers emphasize in a study published in April this year.
However, this study was purely cross-sectional and the researchers were unable to track the evolution of the participants’ eating disorder symptoms. Additionally, it was conducted on a diverse but relatively small group of people. Nevertheless, it provides some support for the theory that sexual orientation may influence the risk of eating disorders.
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