Would you be surprised to learn that 10 million men in the U.S. will have an eating disorder at some point in their lives, with athletes far more likely to be affected than non-athletes?

Veteran broadcast journalist and correspondent Soledad O’Brien was shocked to learn that and more, while reporting on eating disorders in male athletes for a recent segment of HBO’s Real Sports.

“I was surprised at first, because I always thought that elite athletes in some way treat their bodies like a temple, but then when you realize that many of them would say what made them an elite athlete is also what made them really great at having an eating disorder, it started to make sense,” O’Brien tells Muscle & Fitness.

Eating disorders actually carry the highest mortality rate when it come to mental illnesses, with male athletes suffering from more than anorexia or bulimia: binge eating, purging, laxative abuse, and fasting are some of the other eating disorders affecting male athletes on all levels—from youth sports all the way up to the pros.

Last year, former Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Marjama retired at 28 to become an ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). He had battled anorexia and bulimia for five years as a California adolescent, before entering inpatient treatment. He wanted to dedicate his life to helping others with similar issues.

We spoke with O’Brien and the producer of the Real Sports segment, Maggie Burbank, about what they learned from investigating the subject and their reactions to eating disorders among male athletes.