One of the central features to eating disorders is the individual's issues with body image. Current literature explains body image in very simplistic terms by stating that a person with an eating disorder has negative, over-critical beliefs about his physical appearance as a whole or of a specific body part.

1. While women tend to be "fixated on weight" and "thinness," men tend to be more concerned with building a muscular body "shape" (Roloff, 2004).
2. Males tend to manage weight by fasting and exercising. Men are not as likely as women to lose weight through dieting and abusing diet pills, laxatives, and diuretics (Roloff, 2004).
3. Boys tend to form an image of their body and self-worth based upon the comments of peers, such as through nicknames and teasing. Halperin (1996) explained that through the socialization and commodore of sport teams, males form a concept of their body image.
4. Boys and men's body images are formed by the attitudes and beliefs the culture attributes to the meaning of masculinity, including the traits of independence, competitiveness, strength, and aggressiveness. Those who do not conform to the culture's ideal image tend to have a lower self-esteem than those who do conform. When males fail to live-up to these masculine expectations, they feel emotionally isolated, and this leads to problem behaviors (Kearney-Cooke and Steichen-Asch, 1990). These problem behaviors may take the form of eating disordered beliefs and behaviors.
5. Males tend to start dieting in response to actually being overweight, while females tend to diet because they "feel" fat despite not being overweight (Andersen, 1992).
6. While females diet to improve physical attractiveness (- thinking thinner is better), men tend to diet to achieve sports-related goals, reap health benefits, and avoid future medical problems (Andersen, 1992).
7. Maintaining a thin, toned body and exercising makes many men feel more masculine and in control. They believe their reward for working out will be greater admiration and respect from others (Andersen, 1992).

Halperin, E. N. (1996) "The Role of Socialization in Male Anorexia Nervosa: Two Cases" in Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 26 (3), pp. 159-168.

Kearney-Cooke, A. & Steichen-Asch, E. (1990) "Men, Body Image, and Eating Disorders" in Males and Eating Disorders by ed. A. E. Andersen (New York: Brunner/Mazel) pp. 54-74.