There appears to be a gap in the health care system (ha! one among many...) when it comes to identifying eating disorders in boys and some ethnic groups. Obviously, boys and some foreign cultures don't display the same behaviors and symptoms as the "white females" the system was designed for, and so these patients inevitably "fall through the cracks." One example is the fact that doctors and clinicians are trained to pay special attention when patients express an interest in being "thin," but most boys will instead say things along the lines of "fit" and "healthy," and those terms don't set off the same alarms.

So it's pretty obvious at this point that some of the training in this area needs closer examination and perhaps even a complete overhaul. As news about the rising obesity epidemic in this country continues, the pressure for our children will only get worse.