Body Image and Eating Disorders: Not for Girls Only
Dear Mr. Dad: I’m completely convinced that my son has an eating disorder. When he was little, he was always a little on the heavy side. At about 11—right when puberty hit—he suddenly started dieting. At first, I was proud of him for taking charge of his own weight. He looked really good and seemed... CONTINUE READING→
Are We Having Less Sex?
If you ask, most people think others have more sex than they do. They would also say that if given the choice, they would have sex more often than they actually do. And most think that the elderly have very little sex. But are these perceptions really grounded in fact? Hardly. The Science of Sex... CONTINUE READING→
Men’s Health Starts at the Top: With the Head
Dear Mr. Dad: I’ve read several of your columns that have touched on the health of men and boys, but you haven’t spent much time talking about mental health. Is male mental health different than females’? A: Very different. Within the broader men’s health crisis, which, as you mention, I’ve written a lot about, there’s one... CONTINUE READING→
How to Prepare for a Semen Analysis
You may do it all the time, but not for academic reasons. Now they’re asking you to provide a semen sample to see how it measures up. If you feel like you’re being singled out, don’t. Truth is, there’s a long history of looking at semen under a microscope. The Dutch lens maker van Leeuwenhoekfirst peered at sperm... CONTINUE READING→
The Rhythm of Language
Dear Mr. Dad: My 2 ½-year old is learning lots lot of new words, but has trouble singing even the simplest song. And although he sometimes rocks in time to music, he’s almost never on the beat. Is there a connection between language, music and rhythm, and is a problem with any of them a... CONTINUE READING→
The Skinny on STIs and Male Infertility
How many sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are there right now in the U.S.? Believe it or not, 110,000,000! That’s double the number of folks that get the flu each year. Talk about an epidemic! Not only that, but 20,000,000 new STIs are diagnosed each year. Fully half of these infections occur in 15- to 24-year-olds. Unfortunately, most studies examining STIs and... CONTINUE READING→
Making Veterans’ Healthcare More Patient-Centered
The population of American veterans is not “one size fits all.” As someone who spent nearly 13 years on active duty in the Army, including nine months in the Middle East during Operation Desert Shield, I know that personally. Varying military experiences, and the specific health issues associated with them, pose ongoing challenges for the... CONTINUE READING→
Abortion: An Issue That Affects All of Us
Dear Mr. Dad: I remember a thoughtful column you wrote a few years ago about abortion and the need for men and women to talk about it. I’m wondering whether your thinking has changed in light of the draconian anti-abortion laws in Georgia, Alabama, and other places. I’m also wondering what you think about the... CONTINUE READING→
What You Didn’t Learn in Sex Ed
Is it my imagination or does every new electronic device, be it an alarm clock, cooking widget or cell phone, come with a 100-page owner’s manual? No more learning by simple intuition or reason nowadays. According to Malcolm Bradbury, the digital age is different: “We don’t have reason; we have computation. We don’t have a... CONTINUE READING→
Young Men’s Body Image
As a female college student, I have participated in a fair number of conversations about body image and self-esteem. For many college women, these conversations revolve around how much they had to eat that day, that they cannot treat themselves for a while, or that they need to get back on the treadmill this semester.... CONTINUE READING→