theatlantic | Culturally, we’re becoming well attuned to the pressure girls are
under to achieve an idealized figure. But researchers say that lately,
boys are increasingly feeling the heat.
A new study of a national sample of adolescent boys, published in the January issue of JAMA Pediatrics,
reveals that nearly 18 percent of boys are highly concerned about their
weight and physique. They are also at increased risk for a variety of
negative outcomes: Boys in the study who were extremely concerned about
weight were more likely to be depressed, and more likely to engage in
high-risk behaviors such as binge drinking and drug use.
The trend toward weight obsession among boys is cause for worry, says
Dr. Alison Field, an associate professor of pediatrics at Boston
Children’s Hospital and the lead author of the study. “You want people
to be concerned enough about their weight to make healthy decisions,”
she says, “but not so concerned that they’re willing to take whatever
means it takes—healthy or unhealthy—to achieve their desired physique.”
Of the boys who were highly concerned with their weight, about
half were worried only about gaining more muscle, and approximately a
third were concerned with both thinness and muscularity simultaneously.
Meanwhile, less than 15 percent were concerned only with thinness. Those
statistics reflect a major difference between boys and girls when it
comes to weight concerns: whereas girls typically want to be thinner,
boys are as likely to feel pressure to gain weight as to lose it.
“There are some males who do want to be thinner and are focused on
thinness,” Field says, “but many more are focused on wanting bigger or
at least more toned and defined muscles. That’s a very different
physique.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment