50 signatures reached
To: Mary Butler TD
"Who Get's To Heal?" Men's eating disorder awareness
Recognize the urgent need for greater awareness, early intervention and gender-inclusive treatment for men with eating disorders by establishing Men's Eating Disorder Awareness Day (MEDAD)
Why is this important?
I urge you to join this campaign because eating disorders don't discriminate but access to treatment does. Men continue to face stigma, misdiagnosis and lack of accessible care.
- Boys and men now make up about one-third of those diagnosed with an eating disorder (Mitchison, D., et al., Psychological Medicine, Vol. 50, No. 6, 2019).
- 25% of children with anorexia are male. (Broadwater, 2018).
- 50% of people with binge eating disorder are men. (Jackson & Jackson, 2024)
"I want to be a minor chink in the armour of stigma, that often still portrays eating disorders as more of a female distress. I want to show how easy it is to be romanced into the trap, regardless of age, gender, sexuality or ethnicity- as eating disorders don't discriminate but infiltrate your heart and begin to destroy"(1 in 4 Men: Christopher’s Eating Disorder Story, 2023) Christopher urges men to speak out, to not suffer in silence and to challenge this gendered stereotype.
How it will be delivered
Once public support is gained, this petition will be presented to the Minister for Mental Health Mary Butler. We will engage with key decision-makers, TDs and senators to push for legislative action through media, advocacy and direct engagement. Ensuring this issue is debated and acted upon at the highest of levels until change happens.