UK study claims men worry more about looks than women

Summary of story from The Guardian , January 6, 2012

More men worry about their body shape and appearance – beer bellies, “man boobs” or going bald – than women do about how they look, claims research.

Around four in five men (80.7 percent) talk in ways that promote anxiety about their body image by referring to perceived flaws and imperfections.

This is compared to 75 percent of women.

It also found that 38 per cent of men would sacrifice at least a year of their life in exchange for a perfect body – a higher proportion than women.

“These findings tell us that men are concerned about body image, just like women. We knew that ‘body talk’ affected women and young people and now we know that it affects men too,” said Dr Phillippa Diedrichs from the centre of appearance research at the University of the West of England.

The study consisted of 394 British men, commissioned by Central YMCA and the Succeed Foundation, an eating disorders charity.

The survey revealed that men have high levels of anxiety about their bodies and that some resort to compulsive exercise, strict diets, laxatives or making themselves sick in an attempt to lose weight or achieve a more toned physique.