To examine diet, physical activity, and bodyweight changes associated with relocation from home to university. Methods: Diet, fitness/physical activity, bodyweight parameters and self-efficacy were assessed among 54 freshman women upon college entry and 5 months later. Results: Although caloric intake significantly decreased, a significant increase occurred in bodyweight parameters that may be attributed to significant decreases in total physical activity. Conclusions: Interventions are needed aimed at increasing physical activity; improving diet quality related to consumption of vegetables, fruits, breads and pasta, and meats; and decreasing alcohol consumption.
Introduction
Pubic hair grooming and removal are common behaviors among men and women. However, little is known about the reasons for grooming, preferred pubic hairstyle of sexual partners, and symptoms associated with regular grooming.
Aims
This study aims to assess pubic hair removal/grooming practices, pubic hairstyle preferences, and genital outcomes associated with pubic hair removal among men and women in a college sample.
Methods
Data were gathered from 1,110 participants (671 women and 439 men) at a large public Midwestern university and a small Southern public university.
Main Outcome Measures
Items assessed demographics, pubic hair grooming and removal practices in the past 4 weeks, reasons for pubic hair status, preference for pubic hairstyle of sexual partners, and symptoms associated with removal and grooming.
Results
Most (95%) participants had removed their pubic hair on at least one occasion in the past 4 weeks with shaving being the most commonly reported hair removal technique by women (82%) and men (49%). Women were significantly more likely to report their typical status as hair-free (50% vs. 19%; χ2 = 165.528, P < 0.001) and men were significantly more likely to prefer a hair-free sexual partner (60% vs. 24%; χ2 = 211.712, P < 0.001). Genital itching was experienced on at least one occasion by 80.3% of pubic hair groomers and was the most commonly reported side effect.
Conclusion
Genital grooming and pubic hair removal are common practices among both men and women of college-age. Women are likely to report stronger associations with feelings of cleanliness, comfort, sex appeal, social norms of their peer group, and affordability as reasons for their chosen pubic hair style. Women also report more experiences with genital side effects of pubic hair removal, an expected result as women are removing pubic hair more frequently and more completely than their male counterparts.
The goal of this study was to improve our understanding of men's sexual response and its components as well as the factors or types of situations that men describe as facilitating or interfering with sexual arousal. Six focus groups, involving 50 mostly white, heterosexual men (M age = 35.2 years; range, 18-70), were conducted. As it was previously found in women (Graham, Sanders, Milhausen, & McBride, Archives of Sexual Behavior, 33, 527-538, 2004), men described a wide range of physical (genital as well as nongenital) and cognitive/affective cues for sexual arousal. Also, men described the relationship between sexual desire and arousal as being variable and complex, presented a wide range of factors that increased or decreased sexual arousal, and showed substantial variability in both the importance and direction of their effects. The findings may help further development of models of sexual response and inform discussions about gender differences in sexual desire and arousal.
The present study explores how genital self-image may be related to considerations of surgically altering one's genitals and documents the wanted genital changes among young adults. Evidence of a nontrivial proportion of respondents (98 of 1,110) had seriously considered elective genital surgery. Regression models indicate that, for both men and women, identifying as heterosexual and reporting lower composite genital self-image scores results in higher odds of considering genital surgery. Additionally for men, feeling unsatisfied with penis size increased the odds. Clinical and educational efforts to normalize and celebrate genital variation may influence considerations for genital modification in young adults.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.