Toward an Understanding of the Poor Health Status of Indigenous Australian Men.

The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of health and health behaviors among Indigenous Australian men. Using a participatory action research (PAR) framework, we conducted two focus groups and 40 individual semi-structured interviews with men between the ages of 18 and 35 years in each of three locations across Australia. We used the health beliefs model to provide a framework for the analyses. Participants recognized that their Indigenous status placed them in a vulnerable position with regard to health, and that there might be serious consequences of failing to follow a good diet and engage in appropriate exercise. However, they delineated a number of barriers to engaging in such health behaviors. These perceived barriers require addressing at a range of policy levels within government, with a focus on social structures and institutionalized discrimination, as well as unemployment, poverty, dispossession, and cultural oppression.

Body satisfaction among adolescents in eight different countries.

The current study examined body satisfaction and the value of body size among adolescents in Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, Tonga, Tongans in New Zealand, China, Chile and Greece. In total, 2489 adolescent females and 2152 males participated in the study. The results demonstrated that males were more satisfied with their body than females. Males generally had a lower BMI than females, except for males in China and Malaysia. Attitudes towards large bodies for males and females varied by cultural group. These results demonstrate the strong cultural similarities in body satisfaction, but the differences that occur in relation to a large body.

The attractive female body weight and female body dissatisfaction in 26 countries across 10 world regions: results of the international body project I.

This study reports results from the first International Body Project (IBP-I), which surveyed 7,434 individuals in 10 major world regions about body weight ideals and body dissatisfaction. Participants completed the female Contour Drawing Figure Rating Scale (CDFRS) and self-reported their exposure to Western and local media. Results indicated there were significant cross-regional differences in the ideal female figure and body dissatisfaction, but effect sizes were small across high-socioeconomic-status (SES) sites. Within cultures, heavier bodies were preferred in low-SES sites compared to high-SES sites in Malaysia and South Africa (ds = 1.94-2.49) but not in Austria. Participant age, body mass index (BMI), and Western media exposure predicted body weight ideals. BMI and Western media exposure predicted body dissatisfaction among women. Our results show that body dissatisfaction and desire for thinness is commonplace in high-SES settings across world regions, highlighting the need for international attention to this problem.