Landmark study to track gay and bisexual men's attitudes on body image
Steroid use is on the rise as young men fuelled by social media lead a dangerous pursuit of muscle-bound perfection, researchers warn.
Now, for the first time, a global study run from Australia will look specifically at how gay and bisexual men are impacted and whether this could be leading to fatal outcomes.
"More and more men and boys are increasingly seeing their appearance as a domain that they have to excel in and project control over for others," said Melbourne University research fellow Scott Griffiths, who is leading the study.
"It's not surprising then that more and more boys are succumbing to eating disorders and the like.
"There is some evidence that gay and bisexual men are more vulnerable than heterosexual men to eating and body image disorders, and to using appearance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids, which would suggest a greater need for research."
Starting today, 3.5 million men on the Grindr app in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US will be invited to start the Gay Bodies Worldwide survey.
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