Only 55 percent of men and women can confidently state where their rectum is located, and half don't know where their reproductive organs are. The statistics are revealed in a new poll commissioned by leaing private healthcare clinic Pall Mall Medical.
When asked which of the organs they could confidently locate in the body 45 percent did not know where the rectum is. Results revealed people living in the North East of England were the poorest at locating this area with just 42 percent knowing where the final portion of their large intestine is.
Londoners weren’t much wiser either, with barely half (49%) able to locate the organ. Contrastingly, people in the South West of England and Wales were the most clued up at finding this part with 64 percent confident they knew their way.
Dr Chun Tang, Medical Director of Pall Mall said the findings highlighted Britain’s laidback attitude to their anatomy. “While these findings light-heartedly point out the bewilderment many Britons face when it comes to their bodies, hopefully it carries a serious message too about the importance of knowing our bodies.
“Having good knowledge of our body parts and their functions is important, it enables us to be more in control of our health and understand when things might not be functioning properly. Perhaps people should go back to playing the classic boardgame ‘Operation’."
Just over half of those polled (52%) were on the ball at finding their reproductive organs. And it was women, who fared better than men at locating their bits and pieces with 57 percent of females knowing their ins-and-outs as opposed to 47 percent of men.
The Pall Mall survey – carried out by OnePoll on 2,000 UK adults – also found that it was the 55 to 64 age-range that topped the list, whereas only 22 percent of 18 to 24-years olds could pinpoint their rectum.
Which organs are hardest to find (easiest to hardest):
- Heart 63%
- Brain 63%
- Lungs 60%
- Stomach 59%
- Rectum 55%
- Reproductive organs 52%
- Kidneys 50%
- Bladder 48%
- Liver 43%
- Appendix 38%
