In his new self-titled book, Zayn Malik revealed he previously suffered from an eating disorder, The Sun reported, and it was not driven by the desire to lose weight.

Malik, who left the popular boy band One Direction last year, wrote that the final months of his time in the singing group were very dark, as he would go days without eating. He allegedly wasn't motivated to be skinny, but rather he wanted to have some control over his life.

“I think it was about control. I didn’t feel like I had control over anything else in my life, but food was something I could control, so I did," Malik wrote in his new book "Zayn," according to The Sun. “I had lost so much weight I had become ill. The workload and the pace of life on the road put together with the pressures and strains of everything going on within the band had badly affected my eating habits."

This report comes just a few months after Malik canceled a show due to intense anxiety:

Malik's latest revelation opens the curtain on a common reason for developing an eating disorder.

Though some people may develop eating disorders as a result of body image issues, not everyone is motivated by the prospect of weight loss. A lack of control in one's life can lead someone down a path of eating disorders, according to ANRED.com, an informational resource from the now defunct non-profit Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders:

"[Some have eating disorders] to try to take control of themselves and their lives. They are strong, usually winning the power struggles they find themselves in, but inside they feel weak, powerless, victimized, defeated, and resentful. People with eating disorders often lack a sense of identity. They try to define themselves by manufacturing a socially approved and admired exterior."

Online resource Eating Disorder Hope states that some people have anxiety as well as eating disorders:

"Often, it is the case that anxiety precedes an eating disorder. In struggling with severe anxiety, for instance, being able to control the aspect of one’s life, such as food, weight, and exercise, indirectly gives the suffer a false sense of control, which can temporarily relieve symptoms experienced due to anxiety."

[H/T Cosmopolitan.com]