Media Images and Eating Disorders
Health practitioners have noticed eating disorders as one of the most severe conditions causing disturbances in people’s eating habits. An individual’s obsession with body weight, food, and shape can significantly be affected by their eating disorder. There are various forms of eating disorders which including: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Most people affected by eating disorders are young adults and teenagers. The illness affects both their health and well-being. The condition is also said to start developing at an early age of around 16. Today, the world is saturated with media, and it has become almost impossible for people to control the messages. Studies indicate that media has contributed significantly to the pressure people have in regards to their disordered eating and body dissatisfaction. In the United States, more than 80 percent of homesteads have televisions, and on average, each person spends about three hours every day watching. This paper discusses how media images have contributed to the development of eating disorders, not just in the United States but across the world.
Media impact on the idea of masculinity
Most males, particularly young men and teenagers, believe that they are attractive when they are muscular. It is rare to have a thinness drive in men and boys. More than 60 percent of normal-weight young men and boys believe that by gaining more weight, their body shape would become more attractive to women. It is generally believed that a woman would pick a muscular male as her ideal man. Most young men would, therefore, take their bodies very seriously and work to improve on their appearances. America, like any other country, is greatly affected by how the media portray their body images. Media images have proven to have an effect on the self-esteem of a person. Physical attractiveness has been the primary factor for developing self-esteem among young male adults and teenagers. The media portray of thin-ideal images is connected to low self-esteem and the general negative body attitude.
How media affects body dissatisfaction
The manner in which media is used to deliver the message of self-esteem, peer pressure and gender has a significant effect on the body image of a person –especially teenagers. According to xxxxxxx there is a connection between the negative body image and self-esteem and that these are extensive influences of the media, friends, and family. This, therefore, means that the media has had a great impact on how teenagers and young adults view their bodies after seeing advertisements on television, magazines, and other media forms. The biggest challenge with this is that most teenagers end up feeling insecure about their bodies, and they may end up seeing the need to change their diet. This is a more common experience among female teenagers since it links to self-concept and social comparison. Presented in 1954, the Social Comparison Theory explains how people are often determined by their desires of self-evaluation. According to this theory, when people do not value themselves, then they start comparing their attributes and abilities with those of other people. While media may increase body dissatisfaction and a desire to have a thin body among teenage girls, among males, it aspires muscularity.
Media impact on eating disorders among girls
In comparison to teenage males, females tend to be more considerate about weight loss advertisements to the point that it might cultivate beliefs that involve their dieting. Such beliefs can significantly affect the lifestyle and health of these girls throughout their lives. The health communication theory does an examination of the various ways media messages should be communicated during advertisements and entertainment. Such messages play a big part in cultivating attitudes and beliefs that help shape a person’s behavior. According to xxxxxxxx television, the media with the greatest impact on body images of teenage girls as it gives images that these girls are comparing themselves to. This tends to be overwhelming since the tendency of an individual to compare his/ her body to another person can significantly affect his/her level of body satisfaction. Most girls who watch television programs that emphasize on appearances do not find their own bodies to be attractive and pleasing. Most music televisions and soap operas present attractive women as those who are thin and dressing erotically. Such music television and soap operas have been linked to body dissatisfaction and eating disorders in adolescents.
Conclusion
While there are many factors that can potentially contribute to eating disorders, the media definitely also plays a major role. By associating thinness to a positive attribute, media creates or promotes fear of gaining weight, especially among teenage girls and young female adults. Media also uses models as a comparison to create a distortion in a person’s body perception. Media also impacts teenage boys and young male adults to be masculine as they believe that is how they become attractive to females. While the eating disorder is a condition affecting many people today, studies suggest that females are more affected than males.
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