Does the Media Cause Eating Disorders?

Psychologists are finding that eating disorders are becoming more and more prevalent in teenagers and older children. There are often several factors that contribute to the development of eating disorders that include psychological, sociological, familial and media images. In fact, many of today’s psychologists blame the increased number of younger children and teenagers who are experiencing symptoms of eating disorders on the media’s per trail of the “perfect” body. With the increasing technology available to media producers they are able to airbrush models who are already a size 0 into an even smaller size.

Of course, the causes of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia and compulsive eating disorder, are much more complex than to be blamed on just what people see on the television or what is published in magazines. However, one of the factors which is important in the development of an eating disorder is the belief that an individual’s body type does not meet the perfect standard. With the advance of Twiggy (super thin model extraordinaire) more and more people, the media included, are perpetuating the myth that the only beautiful people are thin people.

From early childhood the media teaches us that thin matters. Consider your favorite television shows. Actors who happens to be outside of the weight norm are often portrayed as the bad guy, don’t have any friends or are lazy. The pumped up musclebound men or abnormally thin women are the heroes and heroines. This does not communicate that helps isn’t defined by a perfect 50 dress but rather by falling within the norms of the medias portrayal of weight.

Infomercials for dieting programs are just as guilty. They airbrush, tape up and surgically enhanced magazine models who are poured into the current fashion and paraded in front of the camera. Even for merciless advertise that they have the perfect dieting program which will take you from a size 12 to a size 4! When did a size 10 or 12 become overweight?

Eating disorders are not diets that have gone bad but are rather complex psychological representations of individuals who suffer from low self-esteem, perfectionism, internalized anger and other family “stuff”. Is the media really responsible for the rising numbers of men and women who are plagued by symptoms of anorexia or bulimia? of course not! But the increasing number of messages which are delivered to these men, women, boys and girls that happiness, health and popularity is all wrapped up in a perfect size to has become much more prevalent, just as the number of people diagnosed with eating disorders is also rising.

Sociologists tell us that the average American is bombarded with approximately 400 advertising messages each day. These messages are communicated on the radio, billboards, television, movies, newspaper in the Internet. Of these messages one out of every 11 has a direct message about beauty.

Despite the current research that teaching young children and teenagers positive information about body image and healthy eating results in more positive body images the research isn’t conclusive that the media images result eating disorders. Psychologists have found that it does result in distorted body image is in an increasing number of children who may be verbally abused by their peers for “looking different”. But the research does not conclude that it causes eating disorders. People who may be at risk for developing eating disorders will develop them regardless of the media but are at higher risk for developing them if they have a negative body image. Until researchers can’t support the claim that the media causes eating disorders they can only be listed as a negative influence and not a causative factor.

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