The days when a man's beer
belly was shown off as a symbol of his manliness are over,
if a study is to be believed.
It suggests men are as body-obsessed
as women - a third of respondents said they hated their
stomachs and a quarter had issues with their entire bodies.
The phone poll of 500 men, for Norwich
Union Healthcare's "Mr Vain" study, found men felt pressurised
to measure up physically to their sporting heroes.
And one in four said their partners put
pressure on them to keep in shape.
The survey says men are now aspiring
to the male celebrity physique seen in so many lads' magazines.
According to the study, the body most
men aspire to is that of England football captain David
Beckham.
Actor Brad Pitt and Welsh rugby hero
Gavin Henson follow close behind.
The survey suggests pressures on men
to look good are so extreme that they can end up fooling
themselves and others about their levels of fitness.
A quarter of those surveyed said they
lied to their partners or friends about how often they
exercise.
And a third exaggerate how much they
can lift, while one in five lie about their weight.
'Body confidence'
Health and fitness expert Dean Hodgkin
said that, by putting pressure on themselves, men can
be unrealistic about their fitness levels.
He warned they could be doing themselves
more harm than good.
"Men need to understand that it's all
about being in tune with your own body, not comparing
yourself with others or trying to look like somebody else."
He advises men not to focus on their
looks but on their health as a whole.
Norwich Union Healthcare spokesman Dr
Doug Wright said: "Men clearly feel pressure from all
sides to look good, and this is resulting in them becoming
very critical of their own bodies.
"Men need to regain their body confidence
and remembers it's about developing a healthy body both
inside and out, and not about living up to anyone's expectations
but their own."
Eating disorders
The president of the Men's Health Forum,
Dr Ian Banks, said men were now experiencing the same
pressures as women, with the result that they were increasingly
body-obsessed.
He said: "It is often easier to get through
to men using image than it is to get through to them on
health.
"But there is a danger with the way that
we highlight issues that it can skew perceptions of risk."
He added that about 10% to 20% of all
eating disorders were suffered by men.
"We don't know if it is increasing because
of body image issues or just because we are urging men
to go to the doctor and report their concerns."
