Men Unhappy With Their Bodies

According to the BBC, leading British expert on eating disorders John Morgan, M.D., says that one man in five is “deeply unhappy” with his body image. Even so, Morgan warns that the number of men with eating disorders is much higher than official figures suggest. “We know that one in 20 young people suffers from some degree of disordered eating and that at least 15 percent of them are men, and yet that’s a tip of an iceberg,” Morgan says in a documentary to be aired on BBC television. “There are men who have problems with compulsive exercise and excessive bodybuilding who have an illness, but we haven’t defined them. Our definitions of illness have been focused on women rather than men.”

The media have been blamed for the rising problem of so-called manorexia. Many experts believe that there is now as much pressure on young men as on women to look slim.

Thinking Makes You Eat More

A new study has demonstrated that performing intellectually demanding tasks makes people eat more calories. That is, thinking could make you fat.

Canadian researchers recruited 14 female students who were asked to complete three tasks—sitting and relaxing, reading and summarizing a text and completing a series of memory, attention and vigilance tests on a computer. After performing each task, the women could eat as much as they wanted from a buffet. Each of the volunteers performed each of the three tasks over a two-month period, and no one was tested on consecutive days.

The students took in significantly more calories after performing the intellectually demanding tasks than they did after sitting and relaxing—203 calories more after summarizing a text and 253 calories more after taking the computer tests.

The researchers conclude: “Knowledge-based work acutely induces an increase in spontaneous energy intake and promotes an increased fluctuation in plasma glucose and insulin levels. This study contributes to the documentation of a new risk factor for a positive energy balance, with the potential to lead to overweight in the long-term.”

—Dr. Bob Goldman
www.WorldHealth.net

Chaput, J.P., et al. (2008). Glycemic instability and spontaneous energy intake: association with knowledge-based work. Psychosom Med. 70:797-804.

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