Media 's Influence On Obesity

Various studies have demonstrated that when women are shown both photographs or TV commercials with extremely slender models they indicate an increase in dissatisfaction with their body (Crouch & Degelman, 1998). A study regarding social media specifically, was conducted by researchers at the University of Haifa on 248 girls ages 12 to 19; they found that the more time girls spent looking at pictures on Facebook, the more they suffered from eating disorders such as Anorexia, as well as other conditions including a heightened urge to diet and lose weight (University of Haifa, 2011). Media access is

In the article “The Internet and Adolescent Girls’ Weight Satisfaction and Drive for Thinness,” authors Marika Tiggemann and Jessica Miller conducted a study to determine if there is a correlation between various forms of media such as, magazine, television, the internet and a desire for a smaller body weight size, specifically in regards to teenage girls. The authors hypothesize that, “Internet appearance exposure will be correlated with lower weight satisfaction and greater drive for thinness.” The experiment asked the girls to rate how often they read specific magazines, watched specific television shows and browsed specific websites on the internet. They were then given a questionnaire to measure their internalization, appearance comparison,

Is obesity really a serious health concern or is the “epidemic” merely a result of highly fabricated, misleading ideas of politicians and the media? The article, Obesity: An Overblown Epidemic? By W. Wayt Gibbs featured in the May 23, 2005 edition of Scientific America, raises this question. Most health experts and average people believe that obesity is one of the most prevalent health concerns today, resulting in increased risk for other major health issues; such as; heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and the chance for early loss of life. However, other researchers are suggesting that the consequences of being overweight are being blown out of proportion. Naturally, they do

Social media creates an ideal body image in an adolescent’s mind that affects them in various ways. Having an ideal body image can lower self-esteem in some adolescents’ creating eating disorders, and this idea of getting plastic surgery as they get older. Social media is steadily increasing and has heavily influenced adolescent’s to be more aware of their body figure. As a result, many adolescent’s have developed low self-esteem due to the fact that social media continues promoting fit women and creating the idea that women need to be thin to be loved or accepted by society; this can cause harm to adolescent’s because they feel the need to fit in to society.

It’s estimated that nearly 1/3 of people suffer from obesity in North America. Rather than being a part of the solution, the media has a portrayal of what one should and should not look like, what is beautiful and what is not, typically possessing unrealistic standards and showing those that are overweight, as weak-willed individuals, who generally are blue collared individuals. This paper shall discuss obese individuals and how they are portrayed on television or on online streaming programming. Secondly, this paper shall discuss why this group has such a negative portrayal. Third, this paper will discuss what social pressures and production forces shape these portrayals. Finally, this paper will incorporate a media theory and explain what effects it has on the audiences and how obese individuals are typically treated in society.

In “Never Just Pictures,” Susan Bordo discusses the obsession with body image in the media. She begins with an example of Alicia Silverstone; when she appeared at the Academy Awards with a little added weight, the tabloids viciously slammed her. Not only this, but the media regularly attacks women with constant diet pill and plan ads in magazines, in newspapers, on TV, and even in public areas. These advertisements usually have a woman clad in a bikini on the cover. Magazines always have a new miracle diet advertised on their cover. The media affects young minds beyond what one may believe.

Media has greatly evolved since starting, but has bad evolved with it? Print media, digital media, and now social media surround everybody today. Media surround us when we go to the store and see magazines, when we sit and home and watch TV, and especially when we go online. Over time, media has created its own idea of beauty. Medias influence on body image can’t be overlooked. Media and eating disorders have a cause and effect relationship. In Helens article, “Eating Disorders: A growing problem on college campuses”, she expresses that, “In today’s media-saturated world, young women are bombarded with one message: be thin” (Helen, 2014, Paragraph 9). Today media shows that to beautiful you have to be an unhealthy weight. If media doesn’t change its view of beautiful, then the rate of eating disorders triggered by media will go up. We need to figure out a way to help now.

Media is a significant force in modern culture, particularly in America. Sociologist refer to this as a mediated culture where media reflects and created culture. Communities and individuals are bombarded constantly with messages from a multitude of sources. These messages promote not only products, but moods, attitudes, and a sense of what is and is not important. The messages that the media portray are conflicting and it is impossibly hard to achieve both messages since one is orientated toward fast food consumption and the other it orientated toward an extremely thin ideal. Many researchers have hypothesized that the media may play a central role in creating and intensifying the phenomenon of body dissatisfaction and consequently,

The rate of childhood obesity is growing at a rapid rate across the globe, creating concerns as obesity leads on to other serious illnesses including diabetes, heart disease, hyperinsulinaemia (an excessive amount of insulin in the blood), hyperlipidaemia (high number of lipoproteins in the blood) and hypertension (extremely high blood pressure) (Cole et al, 2000).

Around the world, the term health and being healthy is perceived in different lights in the midst of the many cultures of the world. Being a victim of the media and the narrow-minded views of the western world, I, along with many others in the US don’t see any other views of health and the meaning of being healthy other than our own. To be honest, while reading the first few sentences of Yates-Doerr’s article Obesity Science and Health Translations in Guatemala, I was taken back at the fact that in Guatemala, “fatness is associated with health and prosperity” because that is truly the exact opposite of the popular opinions on obesity today (Yates-Doerr). But, in reality, the Guatemalan point of view on obesity roots from the same essential causes of the rise of obesity in the United States.

The reason why people are obese is because the media encourages them to bad eating habits. The media uses a variety of food commercials where the food they show, is unhealthy and at a very low price. That causes the viewers to pay attention to the commercial and give them ideas to buy the product. Another issue with the media and obesity is because people have become lazier till this day. People don't go out to parks and participate in extra curriculum activities no more. All they do is eat, work, and watch TV. Well, most of the people. The lack doing any type of exercise while eating excessively causes the body to gain fat in its system. Students at some schools are being taught bad habits of food eating as well. For

There is no denying that social media: Instagram and Tumblr, has a significant influence on all of us. The current effects of social media have increased dramatically among young women aged between 15 and 25. As stated in the study by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) that the high exposure to social media portraying the thin-ideal body may be linked to body image disturbance in young women. They used a meta-analysis examined experimental and correlation studies testing the links between media exposure to young women's body dissatisfaction and the unconscious behavior towards having a thin ideal body. The results by (Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008) support the claim that high exposure to social media images depicting the thin-ideal body is related to

Social media plays an immense role in the way that stereotypes about attractiveness is conveyed in regards to body image. As Gerbner and Gross wrote in 1976, the cultivation theory states that high frequency viewers of television are more susceptible to media messages and the belief that they are real and valid. The subjection to social media can cause an idealistic view amongst young girls and women alike. Among the mechanisms of human agency none is more central or pervasive than beliefs of personal efficacy (Bandura, 1997). This belief that these body types are achievable can lead to females being dissatisfied within their own skin. The result of the discontent can potentially lead to eating disorders. Body dissatisfaction occurs when views of the body are negative and involves a perceived discrepancy between a person 's assessment of their actual and ideal body (Cash and Szymanski, 1995 and Grogan, 2008). It is estimated that approximately 50% of adolescent girls report being unhappy with their bodies (Bearman, Presnell, & Martinez, 2006). Surveys have revealed that the exposure to social media can cause body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms’ and the concept that thin is “beautiful” amongst young girls and women (Botta 1999; Harrison and Hefner 2006; and Stice et al. 1994). With media influence, the question is the strength of the effect, studies indicate the effects are small in scale; they are likely to operate in accordance with particular differences in

“The attention-grabbing pictures of various high-flying supermodels and actors on different magazine covers and advertisements go a long way in influencing our choices” (Bagley). The media is highly affective to everyone, although they promote an improper image of living. Research proved says those with low self-esteem are most influenced by media. Media is not the only culprit behind eating disorders. However, that does not mean that they have no part in eating disorders. Media is omnipresent and challenging it can halt the constant pressure on people to be perfect (Bagley). Socio-cultural influences, like the false images of thin women have been researched to distort eating and cause un-satisfaction of an individual’s body. However, it

In today’s world television has become one of the most popular and frequently used pastimes. With the increase of technology available today people can now watch television on their phones, laptops, and tablets wherever they go. Something else that has increased in the past years are the number of obese people in the United States. In the last couple decades it was estimated that the number of obese children age 2-5 has more than doubled (5.0% to 12.4%) and for ages 6-11 it has also more than doubled (6.5% to 17.0%). In adolescents aged 12-19 the number has more than tripled (5.0% to 17.0%) and as for adults it is estimated that 70% of Americans are overweight and out of that percentage 50% are obese (Boulos, Vikre, Oppenheimer, Chang, & Kanarek, 2012). It is no coincidence that as the number of prolonged television use has risen so has the number of obese people in America. Television has a negative impact on children that in the long run can lead to obesity.