'I developed anorexia as a teenager after seeing the propaganda in men's health magazines'

A musician has told how he developed anorexia aged 14 after wanting to look like “chiselled” male magazine models.

John Tibbits, now 27, has warned of the risks young boys face from exposure to fitness “propaganda”. He told how, as a teenager, he would work out for three hours a day and eat nowhere near enough food after seeing pictures of muscular men on supermarket magazine shelves and wondering: “Why don’t I look like this?”

John, who lives in Colliers Wood, south-west London, was diagnosed with anorexia in June 2012, weighing just 40 kilos, but in his eyes, he was working towards the perfect body. He only managed to change his eating habits when a fellow patient collapsed in front of him - and he realised the seriousness of his condition.

READ NEXT: 'Symptoms were put down to milk, then I needed my fingertips amputating'

He said, even to this day, he still does not know what an attractive male body looks like, and has an “unhealthy relationship” with the gym. Now a musician, John has written a song called Disordered Thinking about his experience to help raise awareness about the impact of eating disorders on young boys, saying 'not enough people are talking about this'.

“If you looked at me, you wouldn’t think I have a mental health problem, but it manifests itself every day,” said John, originally from Birmingham. “I think it will stay with me for the rest of my life in some form. I will always have the warped perception of what a good male body looks like.

“I have basically written an angry song about the people who, in my eyes, cause significant amounts of harm to young men, like men’s health magazines and Hollywood. But also those who lie to young men and women... to flog products, like protein powders and