To investigate whether homosexuality predisposes males to eating
disorders, the authors studied 48 nonpatient homosexual male students at
UCLA. The homosexual men had higher prevalences of binge-eating problems,
of feeling fat in spite of others' perceptions, of feeling terrified of
being fat, and of having used diuretics than other male students. They also
scored higher on the Eating Disorders Inventory scales for drive for
thinness, interoceptive awareness, bulimia, body dissatisfaction, maturity
fears, and ineffectiveness. One of the 48 homosexual men and one of the 300
comparison group men met criteria for probable past histories of eating
disorders.Abstract Teaser