Health

Male Body Image

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 31, 2002 / 8:40 AM EST / CBS

For years, women have had to endure impossibly thin role models, but now experts say men are feeling increasingly insecure about their bodies, spending too much time in the gym, in the mirror and on crash diets.

CBS 2's Paul Moniz reports that from musicians to athletes, the message is clear: buff is in.

You might not expect a building contractor to be so image conscious but Jeff Yilmaz says his protruding stomach, a.k.a. "spare tire," has always been a source of embarrassment. When dieting and exercise didn't work, he turned to abdominal liposuction, vacuuming the fat.

The result: two inches off his waist and though it cost nearly $6,000, Jeff says it's worth it.

"Obviously, you do feel better especially if you go to the beach," he says.

"Many men have mild body image concerns that don't affect day to day lives but an increasing number cross that threshold," says Dr. Harrison Pope, co-author of, "The Adonis Complex," a book exploring the secret crisis of male body obsession.

Dr. Pope estimates as many as one in six men may suffer from some form of body image disorder and he blames not just pop culture but the increasing independence of women.

"Thirty or 40 years ago, men has increasing power as bread winners and soldiers and defenders but now women can do almost anything a man can do," he says. "For some men, we would argue, they have retreated into their bodies as the only remaining way to define themselves as masculine."

That may explain why the use of anabolic steroids is on the rise. And sales of the muscle enhancing supplements Andro and Creatine are booming.

The number of male liposuctions has increased nearly 400 percent over the past eight years. In 1999, nearly 30,000 men had body fat removed, almost 22,000 had their eyelids done and close to 12,000 had nose reshaping.

Even seniors are getting in on the act. Tom Molholm is 65. He's turned to plastic surgeon Dr. Paul Lorenc for a brow lift, eyelid surgery and abdominal liposuction, concerned his face and waistline had gone south.

"I'm a little embarrassed," he confesses. "But this is an adventure."

It's important to point out many men have plastic surgery who do not have body image disorders. They simply want to look better.

However, having repeated procedures can indicate an obsession, just like going to the gym too often or spending hours grooming. When these habits get in the way of daily life, it's time to seek help.