If magazines, television and movies are any indication of the American psyche, it would be fair to say that our society admires and craves thinness. After all, the diet industry alone takes in billions each year and is still growing. In the past decade, new men's shape and fitness magazines have joined their female counterparts on the newsstand. Ads for products ranging from soap to cigarettes have a habit of exposing male abdominals, and those are, of course, rippled and toned.

Boys and men are now entering the world of objectified, rarefied bodies that females have inhabited for decades ­ it is a universe in which impossibly ideal shapes are displayed as essential. "There is an increased social pressure on men to obtain the accepted and ideal physique," says Steven Crawford, a physician at the Center for Eating Disorders in Towson, Md. "This increased pressure leads to heightened expectations for males to be muscular, in-shape and physically fit."

"It all started five years ago when I was at a very competitive school for the performing arts," says Roger, 24, who graduated fom Kent State in May and asked that his real name not be used. "It was a factory school, so to speak, because they like to produce a certain specific end product from all of their students. I have always had a hard time with food and weight, and for me the stress of not having the body type that the school wanted was more than I could handle."

Roger learned a "neat little trick" from some dance majors who were always trying to stay lean and trim: How to make himself vomit. "At first, it was hard for me to shove my index finger down my throat, but after the first couple of times, it became second nature," he says. "Actually, it soon became unnatural to finish a meal. I wouldn't have to come close to my mouth with my pointed finger. I would just go to the bathroom and vomit."

Roger soon lost almost 100 pounds and says he had become so weak that he wasn't able to stay awake long enough to go to class, practice and then make rehearsals. "I was falling apart. I was unhappy with everything, and being that much skinnier really didn't seem to help."

After eight months of suffering from bulimia, Roger sought help. He says he had an excellent therapist and a nutritionist to help him make the changes he needed to get well. The hardest part for him, as for any person with an eating disorder, was gaining back some of the weight he had lost. The fear of losing control never goes away.

"I think that many people seem to view eating disorders purely as an issue for women, but this cannot be further from the truth," he says. "Since I have entered recovery, I have met so many guys that have had similar circumstances to myself."

Typically, men have been envied by the opposite sex as being able to eat whatever they want and not gain a pound. Although this stereotype may ring true for some men, a growing minority is voicing the complaints most often heard from women:

"I look/feel so fat."

"I shouldn't be eating this."

"I really need to lose some weight."

Society's emphasis on body-as-worth can have devastating effects on women and men. Eating disorders and body shame are starting to cross gender lines. In fact, a 1996 study by the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination found that 50 percent of 9-year-old girls and 80 percent of 10-year-old girls have dieted. Similarly, a second survey of fifth-graders showed that 43 percent of boys wanted to be thinner. Males as young as 10 or 11 are developing dangerous methods to stay trim and fit.

Nationwide, an estimated 10 percent of eating disorder patients are males. "It is estimated that up to 5 percent of college-aged men are bulimic," says Suzanne Brigham, a Washington, D.C.-based psychologist who specializes in eating disorders. "Between 5 and 10 percent of college aged women suffer from bulimia."

Anorexia and binge-eating disorder also develop among males, a fact that may come as a surprise to many Americans who associate

eating disorders exclusively with teenage girls. " I have seen an increasing number of men who have distorted body images," says Joe Napierala, a psychologist and the director of Success Individual and Family Counseling in Akron. "They are paying more attention to how their bodies look. Whatever it takes, they do not want to become fat."

Owen, who also asked that his real name not be used, can't remember a time when he wasn't conscious of his weight. "Even as a little kid, I was always aware of being fatter than all the other kids," the 21-year-old Kent State student says. " It got to the point that I just stopped eating."

Owen weighted 130 pounds as a fifth grader. Seven years later, when he graduated from high school, he had grown seven inches taller, but his 5'8" frame weighed only 140 pounds. He says he'd only eat when he had to, that breakfast and lunch were nonexistent and he'd only "nibble" at dinner.

"I just convinced myself that I wasn't hungry. Around that same time, I was also struggling with the fact that I was gay, and I knew very well that I didn't fit in. Being skinny was the only way I could avoid being picked on even more."

He says he would go entire days without eating anything, convinced that small amounts of food would pack on the pounds. He would be too weak to do much at all, except lie in front of the TV thinking how much better life would be if he were even skinnier.

"I was in constant search of the perfect person to fall in love with," Owen says. "And I figured that the main reason I couldn't find him was because I was still overweight, even though my pants were practically falling off, and my shirts just kept getting bigger and bigger on me."

Owen's eating patterns, or lack thereof, did not change throughout his first year of college. He says he was hanging out with people who were doing the exact same thing: Not eating to stay skinny.

"There is almost a sick kind of competition to see who could go the longest without eating, and when you finally broke down and did eat, you'd try to see how little food you'd actually consume. No one wanted to admit they were hungry, and I just went along with that mentality of 'to eat is to be fat.'"

But Owen's life did change during the beginning of his sophomore year ­ he finally found someone who loved him for who he was, not how he looked. He says that for the first time in his life, he had a stable relationship, and that stability translated into a new outlook on his behavior.

"I'm just as critical of myself now, but I'm not as scared of gaining weight," he says. "I still think I'm fat, and if I eat stuff that I know is bad for me, I feel really sad and disappointed in myself. I guess that will never go away entirely."

Owen has gained weight in the past year, but he continues to work out six days a week. "I still have fat days, where I feel like I'm the biggest tub of lard in the world," he says. "But I'm trying to focus more on not losing weight, but on gaining muscle. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat a candy bar without berating myself for hours afterward."

Although eating disorders are well-known, researchers are still in the dark about what they really are and why someone may develop one. "Whether you're a compulsive overeater, bulimic or anorexic, those are just symptoms of deeper emotional issues," Brigham says. "Similar to drugs and alcohol, food is used to cope with painful feelings and emotions."

A fine line exists between someone who is extremely health conscious and someone who has an eating disorder, thus making diagnosis difficult. People who exercise regularly are often praised for their self-motivation, even though they may be exercising compulsively.

"When the eating, purging, exercising cycle starts interfering with normal life, then that's when it becomes a problem," Crawford says. Characteristically, men who suffer from eating disorder are perfectionists, over-achievers, do not know how to express emotions, avoid conflict and have lower self-esteem.

Men who have eating disorders tend to be overly sensitive, as well. "In terms of their emotional make-up, they go to extremes. They eat to relieve anxiety, manage emotions and express sadness, anger, loneliness or boredom."

Napierala, the Akron psychologist, stressed there is no one set cause for a disorder. "A search for control appears to be an underlying trigger," he says. "They may have been a victim of physical or emotional abuse. They may have grown up in a dysfunctional family where alcohol was abused or where emotions were not expressed."

Like any other psychological problem, solutions range from individual therapy to support groups to inpatient treatment at specialized medical centers. "There is no cure for an eating disorder," Napierala says. "Patients need to face the underlying emotional problems, and they need to learn to cope with what's really bothering them."

Napierala, who has been in practice for 17 years, says that counseling ranges in cost from $40 to $100 per hour. Inpatient treatment is much more expensive with costs beginning at $500 per day. Public support groups such as Overeaters Anonymous are free.

America's obsession with weight places unrealistic pressure on both women and men, Crawford says. Advertising, fashion and television are the first to emphasize looking good. But looking good does not always mean that a person is in good shape, physically or mentally.

"I have such high expectations for myself," Owen says. "I've had the hardest time coming to grips with the fact that if I set my goals so high, I'll never be able to reach them. Not eating gave me some control over my body and how it looked, but I know now that my 'solution' was really causing my problems."