Reverse Anorexia in Bodybuilders Essay -- Health Nutrition Exercise Pa

Reverse Anorexia in Bodybuilders Women compose the overwhelming majority of the reported cases of eating disorders. The, desire to be thin consumes many young women who idealize the false and unrealistic model form depicted in popular magazines. Recently, researchers have started to appreciate the role of exercise in the development of eating disorders. This shift has illuminated the striking influence of sports on body image satisfaction in men as well as women. The importance of a fit physique has grown increasingly salient to men in modem society as indicated by the rise of hypermasculine action heroes such as Arnold Schwartzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. One growing sport, bodybuilding, now has the sixth largest sports federation and has come to the attention of researchers. In the last few years, researchers have linked bodybuilding to an overwhelming drive for lean muscle mass coined "reverse anorexia" by Pope, Katz, and Hudson (1993) and "bigameraria" by Taylor(1985). The bodybuilders' obsessional behavior r esembles anorexia nervosa with remarkable similarity except that the drive for enormous muscles replaces the drive for thinness. This alarming psychological syndrome may motivate bodybuilders and weightlifters, to a lesser extent, to relinquish friends, to give up responsibilities, to pursue unusual diets, to overtrain and to risk their health by abusing steroids. Reverse Anorexia in Bodybuilders Bodybuilders who exhibit reverse anorexia strive constantly to gain more lean body mass, but even when successful persist in believing their size is inadequate. Pope et al. (1993) found that 8% of their bodybuilder subjects insisted that they were ver small when they were really big and muscular. This belief aff... ... 148, 917-922. Pasman, L., & Thompson, J. K. (19-8-8). Body and eating disturbance in -obligatory runners, obligatory weightlifters, and sedentary individuals. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 7, 759-769. Pope, H. G., & Katz, D. L. (1988-)., Affective and. psychotic syndromes associated with use of anabolic steroids. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 487-490. Pope, H. G., Katz, D. L., & Hudson, J. 1. (1993). Anorexia nervosa and "reverse anorexia" among 108 male bodybuilders. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34(6), 406-409. Schwartzenegger, A., & Hall, D. K. @ 19-82). Arnold- The education a builder. New York: Pocket Books. Taylor, W. N. (1985). Hormonal Manipulation: A new era of monstrous athletes. Jefferson, N. C.: McFarland. Yates, A. (I991). Compulsive Exercise and the Eating disorders. New York: Brunner/ Mazel, Inc.