Eating Disorders

...ba href=/eating disorder/a/bs as the exclusive domain of females, since historically, girls and women have been much more susceptible to stereotypes of how they should look.

But while females may account for between 90% to 95% of the ba href=/eating disorder/a/bs on record, there are men out there who go to the same extremes for the sake of a smaller frame.

In most cases, they're involved with sports - boxing and jockeying are the two most common - that require them to come in under a certain weight in order to be considered fit to compete.

NONCHALANT REACTION In the world of horse-racing, bulimia (or "flipping" or "heaving," as it's better known) is so common that many facilities for jockeys are rumoured to have special toilets built in.

"But any toilet will do - there's nothing special about it," says former jockey Jacques DesAutels of the practice, adding he himself never resorted to such extremes.

"I just couldn't bring myself to do it." Others could and did and still do, DesAutels says, making jockeys no different than ballet dancers or fashion models - professionals whose colleagues tolerate bulimia with an alarming nonchalance.

He says jockeys, often required to weigh in at less than 124 lbs., can become compulsive about voiding their stomachs, repeating the process several times a day if necessary.

"I know guys who can go through $22 worth of food in a day ...

just eating and throwing up," he says.

"And I know guys who all they had to do was think about it." But unlike women, jockeys are l...

Read more...