Leaders in the field of eating disorder treatment are praising Michelle Obama for launching a campaign for health improvement of America's children.

Officials of the Academy for Eating Disorders, the Binge Eating Disorder Association, the Eating Disorder Coalition, the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals, and the National Eating Disorders Association have written a letter to the first lady acknowledging their support of her cause.

Anorexia is a disorder associated with women, however, 25% of the 2.7 million people with eating disorders are revealed to be males, and the majority of those are vulnerable young men.

Male eating disorders in major cases start between the ages of 14 and 25. In addition to vulnerability factors commonly associated with women, such as unresolved distress, emotional stress, other factors are likely to contribute to men developing an eating disorder.

Sam Thomas, head of Men Get Eating Disorders Too, said, “A combination and culmination of pressures can lead to eating disorders – peer pressure, money worries, relationships and self image concerns build up over time and impact physically, mentally and emotionally, increasingly leading to eating disorders in the male population”.