Say the word anorexia, and chances are you think of young women risking their lives in the quest for perfection. But some men are equally at risk, says Lori Scott. While a York graduate student in kinesiology and health sciences, Scott discovered that many male competitive body builders suffer from a disorder known as reverse anorexia.

    "We knew that there were certain factors that lead to anorexia in women," says Scott. "We wondered if they might be the same factors that lead to excesses in male body builders."

    "We all display a certain amount of obsessive/compulsive behaviour," says Scott. "But many male body builders reach a degree that is maladaptive."

    The body builders Scott interviewed said creating the perfect physical image was paramount. Many of them had families and held jobs, but when training for a competition, they took time off work, no longer ate with their families, worked-out constantly, and created special diets for themselves.

    A typical diet might be rice, protein supplements, egg whites and pineapple. They would eat this exclusively for three months at a time. Their goal was to reduce the percentage of body fat to about four per cent -- a dangerous level. Those who were not in training for a competition showed bulimic tendencies (binging and regurgitating) similar to recovering anorexics, notes Scott.

    Some men believed their perceived imperfections were very noticeable if they hadn't worked-out for a few days. They would refuse to socialize during those periods or would wear loose clothing to hide the way they looked.

    When asked if they thought this behaviour was obsessive or compulsive, they said no, believing they were in control of their minds and bodies.

    "We are now questioning what comes first -- the interest in a sport or lifestyle, or the obsessive image itself," says Scott. "Researchers used to feel the interest came first. Now we are learning that an amalgamation of certain personality traits creates the extreme behaviours and translates into whatever activity/lifestyle is chosen."