New research on how men and women view their bodies shows that women who accept their looks are more likely to eat healthy, but men feeling pressure to have a lean, muscular image may engage in unhealthy eating and exercise behavior.

Presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, in New Orleans, an Ohio State University study found that men with low opinions of their bodies engaged in dangerous behaviors, such as eating disorders, steroid use, and an unhealthy preoccupation with weightlifting. Companion research presented at the meeting found that women who accept their bodies are more likely to eat healthy.

The male study included 285 college students who were asked a series of questions to determine how much pressure they felt to be muscular and lean from family, friends, romantic partners and the media. The more pressure the men perceived, the more they felt they had to live up to the muscular ideals.

“They start to believe that the only attractive male body is a muscular one. And when they internalize that belief, they judge themselves on that ideal and probably come up short, because it is not a realistic portrayal of men,” study author Tracy Tylka, assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State, said in a prepared statement.

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