Healthy Body Image: Men and Body Image

A healthy approach includes eating well, keeping active, and coping with stress in positive ways.

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Girls and women aren't the only ones with body image issues. Surveys show that increasing numbers of men and boys are also feeling unhappy with their bodies.

The ideal male look today, as shown on TV, in movies and in advertising, has become increasingly lean and muscular. Even the proportions of G.I. Joe and other action figures have changed dramatically over the years, from more normal male proportions to a physique far bigger than the largest body builder.

Guys may get the message that to be a "real man" they have to have huge muscles, a "six pack" abdomen and little body fat.

This can be a hard look to achieve for many men and boys. Problems surface when excessive exercise and other extreme measures are used.

Whether it's women striving to be thin, or men wanting to be muscular, the path to acceptance needs to shift from body parts to the whole person.