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SINGAPORE: The number of people seeking treatment for eating disorders at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has more than doubled over the past two years.
The Life Centre at SGH- a dedicated treatment centre for eating disorders - sees an average of 120 patients a year, and one in 10 are males.
Over 200-250 people sought help for eating disorders at the centre in 2009, up from about 110 in 2007.
Evelyn Boon, principal psychologist, Department of Psychiatry, Singapore General Hospital said: "The eating disorders programme is now a little bit more well known and there has been increased awareness.
"So more people are more willing to come forward for treatment and a lot of parents, and family and friends are also recognising the symptoms a lot faster."
Ms Boon said both men and women with eating disorders tend to be intelligent high achievers who are often labelled as "good kids".
But because eating disorders are viewed as a female problem, Ms Boon said many male sufferers are embarrassed to seek help. Still, about 15 men came for treatment at the centre in 2009, up from about 10 in 2007.
Ms Boon said: "The males are becoming more focussed on appearance. If you look at certain magazines, the guys are getting dedicated male magazines and they are getting very defined body shapes. So a lot of the guys are going through body image issues."
Moses Tan is a former bulimic who received treatment at the centre. He was overweight in primary school, and unhealthy food choices coupled with comfort eating caused his weight to balloon to 140 kilogrammes by the time he was 18 years old.
This gave him an unhealthy body mass index (BMI) of 45.7.
Doctors advised Moses to lose weight before he enlisted for National Service. Spurred on by taunts about his size, he went on a drastic diet losing 66 kilogrammes in 12 months.
Mr Tan said: "During my dieting in a span of one year, about half of it, I started going extreme. I started to not eat.
"One whole day I would not eat at all, like I would have quarter of a sausage and I would go running for one hour. I couldn't stop trying to lose weight; I couldn't stop telling myself not to puke after eating."
While doing National Service, Moses told a staff officer that he was depressed, suicidal and worried he might have an eating disorder. He was referred to SGH, where he received in- and outpatient treatment.
During psychotherapy, he realised that he had used controlling food as a form of control over his life. And once he stopped comparing himself against magazine models and started to accept his body, he started to recover.
Now at 23 years of age, Moses maintains a healthy weight through eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly.
- CNA/sc
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