MOST TEENS WITH eating disorders are girls. Knowing this, boys with eating disorders are often ashamed to admit that they have a "girls' disease." Even if they or their parents do seek help, they may be ignored or overlooked. One young man wrote to an eating disorders website that when his weight was extremely low—thirty-five pounds underweight—his parents took him to see a doctor. The doctor said, "Boys do not get anorexia. He is just losing his baby fat."57 That doctor was wrong. Boys make up 10 percent of those with anorexia and bulimia, and they need help just as much as girls do.

The scope of the problem

The American Anorexia Bulimia Association (AABA) reports that more than five million Americans suffer from eating disorders. Others say the number is close to eight million. Even if...