Male Special Interest Group
The Male Special Interest Group is a diverse group of clinicians, researchers and students dedicated to the prevention and treatment of males with eating disorders.
Goals:
- To advocate for this population to AED members and the public at large
- To increase the capacity among clinicians to successfully evaluate, treat, and understand this often overlooked population
- To increase research regarding males and eating disorders so as to better understand incidence, prevalence, etiology, and avenues for treatment
Toward this end, we have laid out several key objectives that we believe help both clinicians and researchers more successfully evaluate, treat, and understand men with eating disorders.
Objectives:
- Evaluate the literature on males with eating disorders so as to
- summarize the current state of knowledge
- identify relevant areas for future research
- develop a literature-based fact sheet that is accessible to a wide audience
- Create a Web site for men with eating disorders and the clinicians working with men. The purpose of this Web site is to establish a place where clinicians, men with eating disorders and the general public can learn more about eating disorders and treatment for men
- Hold a plenary at the AED conference (Read summary of 2005 Plenary)
The Males and Eating Disorders SIG had a productive year. It was
highlighted by a symposium at this year's AED conference in Seattle,
where, in conjunction with the Assessment SIG, we presented various
considerations on the diagnosis and assessment of Eating Disorders in
Males. If has become clear from our work that males are not well served
by our current diagnostic criteria, which seem lacking in two specific
areas- screening and assessment tools that are designed primarily for
women, and lack of information in the ways that men may utilize food and
other behaviors in the attempt to manage body size and shape, often to
their lasting physical and psychological damage. As our discussions have
proceeded over the year and at the conference we have also been
influenced by groups and individuals who are looking at the diagnostic
criteria from the perspective of whether they serve the female
population well enough at this time.
In the coming year we will be creating a bibliography of research on
Males and Eating Disorders. We will be looking at what types of body
modification and eating behaviors fit the current model of Eating
Disorder diagnosis and what changes in this model we might recommend. We
also will begin to review the literature on of sexual identity and
Eating Disorders. We hope to present our findings in these areas at next
year's conference.
For those who are interested or would like to learn more, we will be creating subcommittees based on our three objectives and encourage our members to contact us through e-mail about interest in any or all of them. Feel free to get in touch with us at the following addresses:
Thomas Hildebrandt, PsyM
Mark Warren, MD, MPH
Rita Debate, Ph
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