by Lisa Y. Zhu, Clinical Psychology Graduate Student, Western University, Ontario, Canada and UNC CEED 2024 Summer Research Fellow
Many people think that only girls and women worry about their bodies. But people of all genders, including boys and men, face pressures to have the “perfect” body. Recently, perceptions of the “ideal” body seems to be shifting from being thin to being muscular and lean (Bozsik et al., 2018). Social media may play a big part in this. The “fitspiration” (fitness + inspiration) trend shows off toned bodies achieved through dieting and exercise (Boepple & Thompson, 2016). Although there are benefits to promoting fitness, looking at unattainably muscular bodies can make people feel bad about their bodies and worsen their mood (Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2015). Trying to build muscle and get rid of body fat can lead to harmful behaviors.
Muscularity-oriented eating is a new trend that researchers are studying (Murray et al., 2019). It includes “bulking and cutting” (switching between eating a lot of food and eating very little), counting the nutrients in food, and using protein supplements. Some people also exercise too much and use drugs to build muscle. Left unchecked, these behaviors may lead to depression, anxiety, and problems with school, work, and relationships (Messer et al., 2023).
We still aren’t sure if muscularity-oriented eating represents a new form of eating disorder. People who engage in these behaviors often have eating disorder symptoms, like binge eating and restricting food (Cunningham et al., 2022). But the diagnostic criteria for eating disorders focus on the desire to lose weight and be thin, not the desire to gain weight and be muscular (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). There is a disorder called muscle dysmorphia, where people worry about not being muscular enough, but it’s not thought of as an eating disorder (APA, 2013). This means that people with muscularity-oriented eating might not get the help they need for their eating habits.
The bottom line is that doing extreme diets and workouts to chase after impossible body ideals can harm both your body and your mind. Parents and health care professionals should look out for many different eating and exercise behaviors that can be harmful. Remember, eating disorders do not discriminate and can happen in people of all genders. More research should be done on muscularity-oriented eating to improve our understanding and help us protect people from its negative effects.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
Boepple, L., & Thompson, J. K. (2016). A content analytic comparison of fitspiration and thinspiration websites. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 49(1), 98–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22403
Bozsik, F., Whisenhunt, B. L., Hudson, D. L., Bennett, B., & Lundgren, J. D. (2018). Thin is in? Think again: The rising importance of muscularity in the thin ideal female body. Sex Roles, 79(9–10), 609–615. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0886-0
Cunningham, M. L., Pinkus, R. T., Lavender, J. M., Rodgers, R. F., Mitchison, D., Trompeter, N., … & Griffiths, S. (2022). The ‘not-so-healthy’ appearance pursuit? Disentangling unique associations of female drive for toned muscularity with disordered eating and compulsive exercise. Body Image, 42, 276–286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.06.002
Messer, M., Duxson, S., Diluvio, P., McClure, Z., & Linardon, J. (2023). The independent contribution of muscularity-oriented disordered eating to functional impairment and emotional distress in adult men and women. Eating Disorders, 31(2), 161–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2022.2086728
Murray, S. B., Brown, T. A., Blashill, A. J., Compte, E. J., Lavender, J. M., Mitchison, D., Mond, J. M., Keel, P. K., & Nagata, J. M. (2019). The development and validation of the muscularity‐oriented eating test: A novel measure of muscularity‐oriented disordered eating. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 52(12), 1389–1398. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23144
Tiggemann, M., & Zaccardo, M. (2015). “Exercise to be fit, not skinny”: The effect of fitspiration imagery on women’s body image. Body Image, 15, 61–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.06.003
