An Adonis complex

If Adonis was a real man - rather than a mythological ancient Greek God - and living in today's society, he might well be quite the ladies' man. He might also be blamed for being a factor of poor male body image.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not just girls and women who are hung up on their looks!

Adonis sprang from a beautiful tree somewhere in ancient Greece and his beauty was evident even as a baby.

He was worshipped by many religions in ancient Rome and Greece because he was just so darn gorgeous. The word Adonis comes from the word 'adon' meaning 'lord'. His perfect face and body was even worshipped by other Gods, so the tales go. As Adonis grew into a young man, so did his beauty and it gave him a degree of power - power to render women weak at the knees!

Aphrodite, the Goddess of love, who had revered Adonis since his birth, seduced him when he reached young adulthood and wanted to keep him locked up all for herself.

The story and its link to male beauty and male body image is still realised all over the world today.

In Arabic culture it is spelt Adunis, but has the same meaning, and one Syrian poet named himself Adonis as a type of marketing ploy. In literature, writers have referred to young handsome men as "Adonises".

There is a line in a popular American song that goes He had the kind of body that would shame Adonis... meaning the guy was hot, hot, hot!

My best friend tells me her last date was "... kind, fun and looked like Adonis".

Lucky girl.

We seem to hear so much about female body image, but forget about the males.

As a fitness instructor and health professional, I've worked with boys and men of all ages and cultures and there is a covert, but very real, concern that each and every one of these boys and men have ... and that is to look good.

The very fact that they choose to frequent the gym, football field, running track or swimming pool is partly testament to this.

And if you look a little deeper, you might find some startling facts and figures (pardon the pun).

This was the motivation behind some extensive research I did five years ago at a university in Australia.

Boys, as young as 12, worry, or have worried about their looks. They fuss over things like pimples, having the right haircut and their hygiene (who knew?).

Boys around the age of 15 start to take a real interest in their physical development and appearance.

This coincidently is around the time they start developing an attraction to girls.

One in every 10 people with an eating disorder is male. That's right, some boys around this age will go on to develop the psychological body dysmorphia disease called anorexia nervosa, either in the short or long term.

This small percentage will risk malnutrition and even death, to look lean and avoid a "pot belly".

Around half of the remainder will worry that they do not have a "six-pack" (defined stomach muscles), or might never develop them.

Encouraging boys to play sport or get to the gym at this age has a two-fold advantage. Firstly, the exercise is a good stress release. Secondly, it provides the stimulus to develop the muscles they think they need.

Around 75 per cent of 15 to 16-year-old boys cringe about their height at some point. They also might experiment with the latest clothing, hairstyle and about one third will feel a great urge to lift weights in the gym - a nice set of chest muscles and biceps always looks nice with a six-pack. (Back muscles are not important because nobody sees them, I was informed).

I'm told by these boys that without a sizeable chest and arms, one will almost certainly be without an attractive girlfriend.

Around the age of 17, some boys with another type of body dysmorphia dubbed "bigorexia" might experiment with anabolic steroids in the quest to resemble the incredible hulk - and too big is still not big enough. This very small percentage of boys will inject pseudo-testosterone or human growth hormone at the expense of the health of their internal and reproductive organs.

Young adults worry about things like hair loss, maintaining muscle mass, obvious skin scars, keeping up with their football mates on the field and what women want a man to look like.

Interestingly, culture and not media or peers, as are so often blamed for body image problems in females, have an impact on male body image.

A simple example to illustrate this is what I call "the hair colour issue". When I researched boys and men living near the beach in a western country, of the local culture, blond hair was the desired colour to have.

When I researched boys and men living away from the beach, in a western country but of a European culture, dark hair was seen as more desirable. Adonis has set the bar pretty high, it seems. So high that some boys and men are prepared to do anything to conform to acceptable standards of attractiveness.

Whether the pressure to attract a certain type of female; fit into a certain culture; or have some sort of status at school or work is real or perceived, it can pave the way for some serious self-image concerns for millions of boys and men all over the world.

If you think your son, nephew, brother or male partner has a body image issue, you must consistently nurture his self-worth and health.

Tell him he is an Adonis in your eyes. If it is more life-threatening, seek counselling and medical advice.