Teen boys are more likely to use tanning booths, take diet pills and have their bodies waxed - even if they think those activities are unhealthy - if they are influenced by their peers, according to a Baylor University researcher. Their research also showed that boys ages 12 to 17 focused more on how their skin appears to others - tone, texture and color - than on other aspects of their appearance, including body shape, when they were influenced by peers, says researcher Jay Yoo, Ph.D. The study will be published later this year in Adolescence, a quarterly international journal. Yoo studied 155 boys, with an average age of 14.3 years, in seven schools in the eastern U.S. "I studied what kids are teased about," Yoo says. "If anyone looks different, people tease you. Probably boys who have acne would become really self-conscious. There are cultural differences, but smooth skin is highly desired, and that may translate into other parts of the body. Tanning as a fashion trend is a relatively new phenomenon, notes Yoo. While tanned skin once was associated with being blue-collar, "a tan now is considered a sign of the leisure class," he says. "As a result, the incident of skin cancers has risen dramatically over the past century."
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Teen boys are more likely to use tanning booths, take diet pills and have their bodies waxed - even if they think those activities are unhealthy - if they are influenced by their peers, according to a Baylor University researcher.