‘Men Get Eating Disorders Too’ was founded by Sam Thomas in 2008 in response to the lack of awareness and service provision for men affected by eating disorders.

Having suffered bulimia throughout his teenage and early adult years Sam knew first hand how difficult it can be to get help being male with an eating disorder. Reflecting on these experiences he realised there wasn’t much out there for men that provided them with essential information and advice so that men can recognise the symptoms in themselves. This led to the idea of setting up the website, which could be the first eating disorder website of its kind to cater and advocate for the specific needs of men.

The site was launched in Easter 2009 with the support of ITV Fixers who helped with the development of the website, recruiting volunteers and publicity. MGEDT was featured on the monthly ITV Fixers slot on ‘Meridian Tonight’ in the South-east in December 2008 and an update for ‘Meridian Tonight’ in the South in March 2009. (To watch the reports see the ‘TV and Media’ section).

Sam Thomas (Project Leader) - screen capture from ITV Fixers report 

 Since its launch, the site has had a lot of publicity and Sam has been interviewed for ‘BBC Tonight South-East’ and ‘BBC Breakfast News.’ He has also given numerous interviews for radio including BBC Sussex, Heart FM, BBC Wales, BBC Oxford, Five Live, 1xtra and Radio 1. Sam is committed to continue increasing awareness in the media.

Men from all areas of the country have been accessing the site and also from overseas with a significant number of hits per month from USA, Canada, Australia and Europe. The site has an average of 400 – 600 unique visits per month.

There’s no question that male eating disorders is a massively under-represented issue and we believe that campaigning is vital if the stigma and gender misconceptions associated with eating disorders is to be broken down. In January 2009 we started a petition on the Number 10 website to encourage better service provision for men with eating disorders. To view the government's response to go the Number 10 website.  

In September 2009 we were awarded funding from Scarman Can Do Health Fund to set up a Peer Support Group for men affected by eating disorders in Brighton and Hove. The aim of the group is so that male sufferers can meet with other men to share their stories, coping strategies and give/receive peer support. (For more info see the ‘Peer Support Group’ section). We are intending for the group to continue after its initial six month pilot and possibly set up PSG groups in other areas.

Our other plans are to set up MGEDT as a national charity and seek substantial funding to expand and build on our awareness raising work.

To read more about Sam’s personal experience of bulimia see the ‘Personal Stories’ section

To read Sam’s more about Sam’s experience of setting up MGEDT in its first six months please the ITV Fixers article written for Eating Disorder Week 2009

To read what Sam has got up to with the campaign for the rest of 2009 see the ITV Fixers article written for Eating Disorder Week 2010