the prevalence and impact of eating disorder behaviours in australian men

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ORAL PRESENTATION Open Access The prevalence and impact of eating disorder behaviours in Australian men Deborah Mitchison 1* , Jonathan Mond 2 , Shameran Slewa-Younan 3 , Phillipa Hay 4 From 2013 ANZAED Conference: Inspiring Change: Person and Context Melbourne, Australia. 23-24 August 2013 Objective To determine sex differences in the prevalence and associated impairment of eating disorder (ED) features over time. Method Cross-sectional surveys of randomly selected adults were carried out in 1998 (n = 3010) and 2008 (n = 3034). Outcomes included self-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL), objective and subjective binge eating, extreme dieting, purging, and overevaluation of weight or shape. Results Men represented 23 - 41% of participants who reported ED features. Objective binge eating was associated with greater reductions in mental HRQoL in men compared to women (p < 0.05), whereas overevaluation of weight or shape was associated with greater reductions in HRQoL in women compared to men (p < 0.05). The prevalence of extreme dieting and purging increased at a faster rate in men compared to women (p = 0.03), whereas the rate of increase in objective binge eating was similar between the sexes (p > 0.05). Mental HRQoL impairment associated with binge eating had increased over time for men but not for women (p < 0.05). Conclusions The gender gap in the prevalence and impact of ED behaviours may be closing. Implications include the need for more gender-neutral public health campaigns and interventions, and the active inclusion of male parti- cipants in ED research. Authorsdetails 1 School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Australia. 2 Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra, Australia. 3 School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Australia. 4 Centre for Health Research, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Australia. Published: 14 November 2013 doi:10.1186/2050-2974-1-S1-O23 Cite this article as: Mitchison et al.: The prevalence and impact of eating disorder behaviours in Australian men. Journal of Eating Disorders 2013 1(Suppl 1):O23. Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central and take full advantage of: Convenient online submission Thorough peer review No space constraints or color figure charges Immediate publication on acceptance Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar Research which is freely available for redistribution Submit your manuscript at www.biomedcentral.com/submit * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Australia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article Mitchison et al. Journal of Eating Disorders 2013, 1(Suppl 1):O23 http://www.jeatdisord.com/content/1/S1/O23 © 2013 Mitchison et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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ORAL PRESENTATION Open Access

The prevalence and impact of eating disorderbehaviours in Australian menDeborah Mitchison1*, Jonathan Mond2, Shameran Slewa-Younan3, Phillipa Hay4

From 2013 ANZAED Conference: Inspiring Change: Person and ContextMelbourne, Australia. 23-24 August 2013

ObjectiveTo determine sex differences in the prevalence andassociated impairment of eating disorder (ED) featuresover time.

MethodCross-sectional surveys of randomly selected adults werecarried out in 1998 (n = 3010) and 2008 (n = 3034).Outcomes included self-reported health-related qualityof life (HRQoL), objective and subjective binge eating,extreme dieting, purging, and overevaluation of weightor shape.

ResultsMen represented 23 - 41% of participants who reportedED features. Objective binge eating was associated withgreater reductions in mental HRQoL in men compared towomen (p < 0.05), whereas overevaluation of weight orshape was associated with greater reductions in HRQoL inwomen compared to men (p < 0.05). The prevalence ofextreme dieting and purging increased at a faster rate inmen compared to women (p = 0.03), whereas the rate ofincrease in objective binge eating was similar between thesexes (p > 0.05). Mental HRQoL impairment associatedwith binge eating had increased over time for men but notfor women (p < 0.05).

ConclusionsThe gender gap in the prevalence and impact of EDbehaviours may be closing. Implications include theneed for more gender-neutral public health campaignsand interventions, and the active inclusion of male parti-cipants in ED research.

Authors’ details1School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Australia. 2Centre forApplied Psychology, University of Canberra, Australia. 3School of Medicine,University of Western Sydney, Australia. 4Centre for Health Research, Schoolof Medicine, University of Western Sydney, Australia.

Published: 14 November 2013

doi:10.1186/2050-2974-1-S1-O23Cite this article as: Mitchison et al.: The prevalence and impact ofeating disorder behaviours in Australian men. Journal of Eating Disorders2013 1(Suppl 1):O23.

Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Centraland take full advantage of:

• Convenient online submission

• Thorough peer review

• No space constraints or color figure charges

• Immediate publication on acceptance

• Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar

• Research which is freely available for redistribution

Submit your manuscript at www.biomedcentral.com/submit

* Correspondence: [email protected] of Medicine, University of Western Sydney, AustraliaFull list of author information is available at the end of the article

Mitchison et al. Journal of Eating Disorders 2013, 1(Suppl 1):O23http://www.jeatdisord.com/content/1/S1/O23

© 2013 Mitchison et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, andreproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.