Eating disorders are often viewed as a women's issue, leaving many men battling such disorders undiagnosed, according to researchers from the University of Oxford and University of Glasgow.
Together they interviewed 39 people ages 16 to 25, including 10 men, about their experiences with the condition.
"Men with eating disorders are underdiagnosed, undertreated and under-researched," the authors said in their report.
Ten to 15 percent of those suffering from eating disorders are male, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), which estimates that up to 24 million people in the United States alone have an eating disorder.
In the study, the male participants themselves did not recognize their own body issues. Their symptoms included going for days without eating, purging and obsessive calorie counting, exercise and weighing. It took them months and years to realize that these are symptoms of eating disorders.
One participant said it only affected "fragile teenage girls," while another said eating disorders were "something girls got." One wasn't even aware men could get eating disorders.
Some men delayed seeking help because they were embarrassed and did not think health care professionals would take them seriously. They may be right, according to some of the participants who had already sought help, but, as one man recounts, his doctor told him he was "going through a teenage fad." Another's gastroenterologist told him to "man up."
"The pressures on body weight and body image are affecting a much wider range of people, which obviously includes men," Leanne Thorndyke, an expert not involved in the study, told BBC News.
"Boys and men tend to want to be bigger and more muscular and toned, which is a different ideal to women," she added.
Researchers note that increased awareness can help others who unknowingly have an eating disorder.
