Please note, this episode contains discussion of eating disorders and includes a mention of suicide.

Mashed potatoes and gravy and turkey and three kinds of pie. And man, I just, you know, I went to town and knowing that I could, you know, throw all back up later.

People had told me my parents, so you're doing damage to your body. And I, I didn't, never

believe them. It was really an obsession. It was looking at the scale and it was a little bit down.

I was like, I was like giddy. It was almost addictive.

This is the sporkful.

It's not for foodies, it's for eaters.

I'm Dan Pashman.

Each week on our show we obsess about food to learn more about people.

Over the past few years, there's been an increase in people seeking help for eating disorders,

and the public discussion about this issue usually focuses on women. In the past, so have our episodes on the subject. But we wanted to

hear about people who've been overlooked in the discussion, so we put a call out asking men to share

their stories. According to the American Psychological Association, boys and men are a third of the

population diagnosed with eating disorders, so this affects

millions of men in the U.S., but they're less likely to be diagnosed and less likely to seek

treatment. Today we'll hear stories from three men. They all said they wanted to share their

experience so that other men who are struggling don't feel so alone. And we're asking,

how is this different for men? How is it the same? What are the

triggers for their disorders and the barriers to treatment? And how do their ideas about masculinity

affect their relationships to food? We'll start with Jack Gillies. Jack lives in Mono, Ontario,

small town north of Toronto. He's 16 and 11th grade, and he lives at home with his parents and sister.

The whole family is very into athletics.

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