Introduction: Obesity, eating disorders, and the media

The Canadian child and adolescent psychiatry review = La revue canadienne de psychiatrie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, 2004

This paper provides a review of the role of the media in the development, maintenance, prevention, and treatment of eating disorders. The literature on gambling in youth on the internet was reviewed. It explores: (1) the role of the media in providing a social context for the development of eating disorders, (2) the role of the media in the etiology of eating disorder pathology, (3) the ways in which the media is used by patients suffering from eating disorders, and (4) the role that awareness of the media can have in the treatment and prevention of eating disorders. This review demonstrates that the media does contribute to the development of eating disorders. This review highlights the need for media literacy and media activism to help change the current normative body discontent of women in the Western world.

Adolescent medicine: state of the art reviews, 2008

Adolescence is a time of tremendous change in physical appearance. Many adolescents report dissatisfaction with their body shape and size. Forming one's body image is a complex process, influenced by family, peers, and media messages. Increasing evidence shows that the combination of ubiquitous ads for foods and emphasis on female beauty and thinness in both advertising and programming leads to confusion and dissatisfaction for many young people. Sociocultural factors, specifically media exposure, play an important role in the development of disordered body image. Of significant concern, studies have revealed a link between media exposure and the likelihood of having symptoms of disordered eating or a frank eating disorder. Pediatricians and other adults must work to promote media education and make media healthier for young people. More research is needed to identify the most vulnerable children and adolescents.

Academic Psychiatry, 2006

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2006

Background This study examined this relationship between eating disordered behaviors and exposure to ideal-type media in a sample of South African university students, who could be expected to have reasonably high levels of media exposure. Possible underlying reasons for this complex relationship were also investigated. Method It examined the relationship via both quantitative (using a questionnaire that included the EAT-26 and a media composite variable) and qualitative methods (interviews) in the sample. Results In the quantitative part, sex and level of media exposure significantly predicted scores on the EAT-26. Women obtained scores that indicated they were more ‘‘at risk’’ for anorexia nervosa than men, especially women with higher levels of media exposure. In the qualitative part of the study grounded theory was used to explore how this relationship was formed. Results indicated that numerous factors, some related to the media, predispose women to disordered eating behaviors. The interviewees were then more likely to use ideal-type media heavily to sustain their disordered eating behaviors. Heavy use of the media led participants to attempt a number of strategies to change their appearance to resemble those in the media, with various degrees of success. Conclusion The model developed by the qualitative research indicated that the media are not necessarily always the cause of pathological eating, but that they interact with other factors in the development of symptoms of anorexia nervosa for these women.

2020

Journal of Gender Studies, 2016

Journal of Eating Disorders

Background Media has a reputation for painting a narrow, simplistic, sensationalized portrait of eating disorders. There is little analysis of how film and TV portray eating disorders nor the implications of this representation. This study fills that gap by comparing demographics of US film and TV characters since the 1980s to actual population demographics of people with eating disorders. Methods We compiled a dataset of TV and movie characters with eating disorders and categorized characters’ gender, age, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. We narrowed the dataset to include only US media depictions to facilitate comparisons with empirical prevalence, resulting in a total of 66 characters over the period 1981 to 2022. We then compared the demographic characteristics of our sample to national statistics on eating disorder prevalence. Results US media depictions of eating disorders overrepresented characters who were heterosexual (75.56%), White (84.85%), women (89.39%), and und...

Society and Economy

Eating habits have become increasingly irrational in the last century; a variety of eating disorders have appeared. Obesity seems to be impossible to cure. Nowadays, the impact of media-marketing is the most powerful social infl uence on eating habits. Media has fi ve main messages on eating and the body: 1. "Be thin!" 2. "Consume and eat!" 3. "Be afraid of food!" 4. "Food will disappear!" 5. "You are not feminine / masculine enough!" Most of these messages and directions are inconsistent with each other: e.g. "Buy and eat more, but remain thin!" The double-bind communication of media-marketing is pathogenic and schizoid. Food-related media messages are multi-layered and contradictory on many levels, so it would be more appropriate to talk about a multiple bind. The paper offers new communication strategies in order to manage the chaotic information on eating and to decrease the inconsistencies on the topic.

ICORIA Proceedings

This article describes a literature review of the influence of advertising and the media on Eating Disorders (ED). Research published in scientific journals in various fields of social sciences such as sychology, psychiatry and communication science has enabled us to conclude that the content displayed in the media, including advertising, are enhancers of disorders and contribute significantly to body issatisfaction in relation to the perceived idea of beauty, it also facilitates the development of weight loss strategies in women and gain of muscle mass in men.