How One College Guy Changed the Narrative on Males and Eating Disorders
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Over the last year and half, college student Bobby Kasmire aka Bobby Kazz has been sharing his past and ongoing experiences with eating disorder recovery through TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, amassing over 270,000 followers through solo episodes or joined by countless nutritional professionals, including counselors, therapists, coaches, and more.
An aspiring nutritional professional he shares his most helpful ideas, tactics, and thoughts that he has picked up on throughout his own journey on finding a better relationship with food.
@bobbykazz TW: ED my story #edawareness ♬ Epic uplifting music – Makoto Hiramatsu
Growing up he was the overweight kid who wanted to be skinny.
“Your worst day in recovery is 100xs better than a day when you’re not in recovery.”
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View this post on Instagram
Although eating disorders affect women more than men, a large number of males suffer from anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa as well as binge-eating disorder and exercise addiction. In fact, 5 to 10 % of people suffering from anorexia are male, and approximately 10 to 15 % of people with bulimia are male. The percentages may even be higher as some experts suspect that few men actually seek help because they are ashamed and embarrassed that they have what has come to be viewed as a “female” problem.
Many male eating-disorder sufferers participate or have participated in a sport that demands a certain body type, such as wrestling and running. Wrestlers are a notoriously high-risk group because many try to lose additional pounds rapidly just prior to a match. This allows the wrestler to compete in a lower weight-class while having developed the skill and strength for a higher weight-class in practice. To accomplish this rapid weight loss, unhealthy weight reduction methods, such as fasting and purging, are often used.
Being overweight in childhood can also influence the development of an eating disorder in males. And dieting, a well-known trigger for eating disorders, can start the development of disordered eating in males.
Kasmire says of the podcast above: “I’ve always wanted to tell my full story of my ED history but never knew the best way to do it, but decided to share my story as a Male who dealt with an ED on this episode. I share my struggles over my high school and college years with anorexia, binge eating, and exercise bulimia. I’ve never recorded a podcast episode before so it may sound unprofessional, but this is my uncut story.”
Kasmire is a senior at the University of New Hampshire where he is studying Nutrition and Wellness.
