okay im gonna put this in the most straightforward terms possible. (in depth discussion of eating disorders below the cut)
children, particularly teenagers, particularly teenagers going through puberty and particularly teenagers going through a testosterone based puberty, need a lot of calories. generally its recommended that you get between 25 and 2800 calories a day at 15, but food intake isnt an exact science and everyone is different! so it varies. its also vital to get a variety of foods, and get them regularly throughout the day.
if we take it as gospel that suo hayato has not eaten in front of his friends a single time since the start of the school year (barring that one early page where he eats taiyaki), that means for approximately six months he has not been eating for upwards of 8-10 hours a day, at least five days a week. japanese schools also often have half days on saturdays, which is another 4-5 hours not eating. on top of this, he often has done outings with friends, on off days, after school, or during summer break, in which he also is not seen eating a single time. this means that, at the most generous, he is not consuming any food for approximately 35% of his week. even if we were to make assumptions that maybe he is eating on the train! maybe the RC does feed him in the mornings/evenings! eating even large amounts at the start and end of the day while restricting yourself for the rest of it is not healthy. you can not make up that amount of lost time eating in short bursts in a way that is good for your body; that is called binge eating.
that is classified as disordered eating.
place on top of that how much energy he expends basically daily. even if makochi doesnt have problems with fights every day (which would be ridiculous, im guessing they have at least one minor-moderate disturbance a week at most), theyre still doing regular training and sparring in the gym. theyre still patrolling once or twice a week, which includes a pretty significant amount of walking. include his commute time, which clearly includes walking a Ways both in and out of town to take the train from a station where he wont be recognized, and the possibility of walking around/fighting/training in bankoku gai, and the amount of calories he's burning is Really High.
hes not making that up. i dont care about his "diet", i dont care if its for martial training purposes, he is not consuming enough calories to properly maintain his body and health. the fact that his weight is even listed at 146 lbs is pretty remarkable, though not that unusual? eating disorders do not necessarily always lead to lower weights. however, i will also point out that we got that page for him fairly early in the manga, and hes definitely been far More active being in bofurin than he likely was before, so theres every chance hes dropped a significant amount of pounds since the beginning of the year.
at this point its not a headcanon. suo has an eating disorder. it may not be obvious, it may not lead to significant weight loss, it may not be bulimic or specifically anorexic (i dont think it necessarily has to do with body image so much as Control), but its not up for debate. it honestly makes a lot of sense his fighting style is avoidant/redirecting; never take shots to your core. a glancing blow is better than something full on. always try and make Gravity the thing that hurts your opponent more than any straight forward hit you can land.
if he gets punched in the gut, hes going to the floor. im shocked we havent gotten any kind of hint that he has a fainting problem, though that could be a problem for future hayato more than right now.
again, "diet" or no, his eating is disordered. its avoidant and restrictive, though im not sure if it would classify specifically as an ARFID given that it may not necessarily be a texture thing. i think it draws from a childhood of food scarcity, where he was the mature, capable, gifted kid who everyone looked up to, and there werent any really capable adults around to take care of all the kids, so he stepped up to do it. he feels like the kind of person who doesnt actually enjoy being a leader but will take a position as one in a time of crisis because no one else will, and it got him roped into a leadership position kinda against his will. and restricting your eating for a long time will make your brain Weird about it! eating in front of others probably makes him feel Judged, makes him feel Guilty, makes him uncomfortable even just because if he has trouble with food, other people Seeing him have trouble is deeply unsettling.
hes in control. hes the adult in the room. hes not supposed to struggle or have problems. no one is supposed to see under the mask that he is a Human Being, that he is a Child, one who has not experienced adequate care from a young age. so he simply chooses not to eat where others can see, and ignores his body demanding calories, and avoids getting hit, and drinks hot tea and water throughout the day to alleviate his hunger pangs. he likes tea cakes because theyre small and have quick calories and sugars that give him bursts of energy for a short time. he trips his opponents. he throws them into each other. he swivels around them and maintains his standing position and only changes elevation when absolutely necessary so as not to make himself dizzy.
his "diet" is an excuse. and if the narrative does not acknowledge his eating habits as disordered or unhealthy in any way, if there is no discussion of how badly he is treating himself by not eating enough, if the only way it is discussed is through the lens of the bonding metaphor of group meals and his detachment from other people, i will be genuinely disappointed.
EDIT: adding my tags back as an image bc i deleted them trying to get this to show up in the main tag and it didnt fucking work anyway. stupid website
kaledo-art
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annaxmalina
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