What Is ‘Bigorexia’? –The New York Times, March 9, 2022
This new, in-depth article on the trend explores how a social media diet of perfect bodies is leading to a muscle dysmorphia (“bigorexia”) issue for teen boys. The most popular TikTok and YouTube accounts reveal a landscape dominated by musclemen—and more young men are now becoming obsessed with weightlifting and dieting. It’s a crisis worsened by the pandemic, with all the social isolation and constantly being in front of screens and cameras.
Men in the Mirror: A Closer Look at Body Images– Men’s Health, October 22, 2021
Global Wellness Summit trend author Jamie Millar describes how male body image is a hugely under-reported subject, and how a storm of cultural influences means that the pressure to look ripped and perform better is keenly felt by boys and men, but rarely discussed. Millar argues it’s time for self-reflection (noting that this topic is the hardest one he’s written about in his eight years at Men’s Health)—and he presents case studies of athletes, male models and personal trainers detailing how body image pressures have personally affected them.
The Open Secret to Looking Like a Superhero –Vox, November 5, 2021
An important, detailed exposé on how Hollywood celebrities and fitness influencers keep quiet about their rising use of muscle-building, fat-burning and masculinizing anabolic-androgenic steroids and other IPEDs. It explores how a thriving industry of these now widely-accessible drugs has created the new male body standard; how they work so well that they’re irresistible; their long-term physical and mental health risks, and how they’re moving far beyond celebrities to use by boys as young as 15 years.
Eating Disorders in Men Are Not Talked About Enough—and They’re on the Rise–Healthline, November 23, 2021
Eating disorders are strongly associated with girls/women, but 1 in 3 that experience them are male, with purging and fasting for weight loss nearly as common in men as in women. With eating disorders in boys and men on the rise, this article explains how athletes, people of color and LGBTQ+ people are most at risk; why they’re on the rise for men; how important inclusive language is in diagnosis and treatment; and how treatment can best work for men.
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