It’s not just women who struggle with their body image..
Issues with body image are something very much associated with women, and yet there are plenty of Irish men who are not satisfied with their appearance.
We asked over 3000 JOE readers about their health and fitness and their relationship with their body.
Physical appearance
Only 2% of men are extremely happy with their bodies, and less than 1% of women; this isn’t surprising as Irish people are notorious for playing themselves down. You never know, we suspect people might have been afraid of coming across as cocky by ticking this box?
Over 10% of men and only 7% of women said that they were very happy with the way they look.
Most people said that they were fairly happy with the way they look with over 50% of men and 40% of women choosing this option.
Of everyone surveyed, 1 in 3 men and women said they were not satisfied with their body image. This was the second most popular answer.
Sadly, 6% of men and almost 20% of women said they were not at all satisfied with their body image.
While the biggest contrast between men and women comes with the last statistic, many of the results show little difference between the sexes.
Gym and exercise
There was a bigger disparity between men and women here.
- 2 out of every 10 men go to the gym or exercise more than four times a week, while 1 in 10 women do the same.
- 1 in 3 people work out two to three times a week, which was the most popular answer.
- 15% of people said that they never work out.
Supplements and steroids
Men take a considerably larger amount of fitness and performance supplements; almost 20% said that they take supplements occasionally, whereas only 5% of women said the same. 8% of men and less than 1% of women consume them regularly.
2% of men said that they have taken steroids, and less than 1% of women said the same.
Everyone exercises for different reasons: Only 2% of people said they work out to pass the time.
Unsurprisingly, half of the survey participants said that they exercise to keep fit and healthy, while 20% of people said they do it for their mental health.
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