EATING disorders tend to be associated with girls and women, but as library assistant John Evans knows only too well, they can also affect boys and men.

He was in his teens when school bullying about his appearance – he was overweight and wore glasses – triggered his anorexia nervosa.

“The only thing I could do to change was to lose weight and get fit.

“The bullying did stop and within my head, the connection was made.

“It just became the thing I used to define myself – I was the thinnest person around,” he recalled.

To begin with, he exercised for fitness, but as his condition worsened, he ate less and exercised more.

“I was all right when I was at home – I was being fed by my mother – but when I went to university, I lost one and a half stone in six weeks.

“I was doing football training, circuit training, tennis, walking and cycling. I was a member of the gym and I would walk up and down to the history department on the 15th floor.

“I didn’t feel comfortable sitting down for any length of time – there was a sense that every moment I could have been doing something more active.

“I knew something was wrong. I was feeling tired and hungry, but it kind of exhilarates you because you know that you’re resisting that hunger. You get a sense of pride out of it.”

When he saw a doctor, she immediately spotted the problem.

“She said ‘eating disorder’. It had never entered my head,” said John, now 31 and living in Hamworthy.

Anorexia nervosa is a complex condition in which people deny themselves food despite feeling hungry.

It is often accompanied by compulsive exercising and sometimes by misuse of laxatives.

John weighed just six stone, far too little for his 5ft 7in height. After being referred for help, he managed to complete his degree.

When he landed a job in Manchester, he was living on his own, cycling to work, walking into town and making use of a free workplace gym.

In 2003, he took up a job in Dorset, but still exercised compulsively. “I would walk up and down when I was opening the mail or doing the photocopying.”

He knew that starving himself was putting him at risk of organ failure, but it made no difference.

“The most important thing in your life is to be thin. I thought being thin would make people like me.

“When I saw other people eat chocolate bars, I felt so superior. My willpower was better than anyone else’s. My parents were very concerned and I agreed to see if I could get help down here.

“I was seeing someone as an outpatient for six months, but nothing much was changing, so I went into Kimmeridge Court (the eating disorders unit at St Ann’s Hospital) for three months.

“For most of the time I was the only man in there. The first time I saw all these women, I thought I was nowhere near as bad as any of them.”

In fact John’s body mass index was 12.5. A healthy BMI is supposed to be between 20-25.

After treatment, he enrolled on a nursing course, but was forced to quit after a year because he kept falling asleep in front of patients.

“I met a friend. She took one look at me and made me realise I was in the grip of it again.

“I got back in touch with Kimmeridge Court and they admitted me pretty much straight away.

“The second time was different. I took risks with my food. People told me I was a nice bloke and I found out there is something about me people like.

“The more I got that feedback, the more I worked on the anorexia. The care I’ve had has been amazing.”

Fourteen months later, John’s weight has stayed stable.

“I love food. I’m eating things like pizza, pasta and chocolate now.

“If I went a day without doing any exercise, I would feel uneasy, but I can limit it. You can’t turn around 15 years in a year, but I’m getting there.”

When he was ill, he searched in vain to find a book about eating disorders aimed at men, so he has now written his own book called Becoming John: Anorexia is not Just for Girls, which he hopes to self-publish this summer.

Factfile

• According to charity BEAT, about 1.6 million people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder.

• An estimated 11 per cent of people with eating disorders are men.

• Men may not only find it harder to acknowledge that they have an eating disorder, but also to have the problem recognised by health professionals.