Anorexia nervosa and bulimia in males: lessons from a low-risk population.

The literature on anorexia nervosa and bulimia in male patients was reviewed with the intention of (a) identifying differences that may exist between male and female sufferers, and (b) isolating, through a study of etiological factors in the low-risk (male) group, those factors that may be specific in the etiology of these disorders in both sexes. Current knowledge suggests that fundamental male-female differences do not exist as far as the etiology or symptomatology of these disorders is concerned. Given such similarities, the lower incidence among males suggests biological, social and intrapsychic determinants, that can be conceived to be more active in female versus male populations.