Eating disorders affecting more men

A nursing professor at the University of New Brunswick says more men are being diagnosed with eating disorders and speaking out about the problem.

Kathryn Weaver, who runs a support group at the Fredericton campus for people with eating disorders, says she has noticed more men coming forward.

"And we're excited, because it takes so much more courage to be a man with an eating disorder — having what he would consider a female mental illness," she said.

Weaver and some of her nursing students held a demonstration in front of Fredericton City Hall earlier this week as part of national eating disorder awareness week. The theme was, "Ask me about my purple elephant," because eating disorders are often the so-called elephant in the room that no one talks about.

But Karsten Saunders is one of the men trying to change that. Saunders is a member of the support group and is among those speaking out in an attempt to break the stigma.

Saunders says he has been diagnosed with several eating disorders.

"That's an issue I've struggled with for a long time, and there's no help for anyone sadly, but especially for men, it's often kind of overlooked or ignored," he said.

Eric Bissonnette, the owner of a local gym called Bizz Fitness, agrees. He says he's seeing more men affected by eating disorders, but too often the problem goes undetected.

"It is there more and more. With males, it just takes a little longer, it takes some more digging to get to the bottom of it," he said.

Fredericton resident Phil Laforge believes it can be difficult for men to come forward about issues, such as eating disorders.

"I guess it's just a thing about being afraid of being excluded, being bullied," he said.

"A lot of guys are, they like to keep a lot of things to themselves," said another resident, Sean Park.

Weaver says she hopes to keep the conversation going.