Body+Image

Lawrie, Z, et al. "Media Influence on the Body Image of Children and Adolescents." //Eating Disorders// 14.5 (2006): 355-64. Web. 26 Aug. 2010. -“A historical perspective of the media’s portrayal of the ideal body size and shape demonstrates change over the last century.” (355) - “The ideal body size and shape for men has changed from a larger body to become more muscular with a physically fit appearance (Lien, Pope & Gray, 2001; McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2004).” (355) -“The implications of childhood exposure to the mass media, which portrays these particular images of body size and shape, are concerning, as there is an increased probability of the child becoming discontent with his or her body if his or her appearance differs from the so-called norm (Stice, Schipak-Neuberg, Shaw, & Stein, 1994).” (356) -“Field et al. (1999) studied 6,928 girls aged 9 to 14 years and found that attempting to emulate the appearance of females on television, in movies, and in magazines was predictive of beginning purging behaviour at least on a monthly basis and that the risk for this behaviour increased per category increase in frequency of trying to look like females in the media.” (356) - “Thomsen et al. (2002) observed that restricting calories and taking diet pills were associated with reading beauty and fashion magazines in female high school students 15 to 18 years of age, and similarly, Utter et al. (2003) found that weight control behaviours and binge eating increased in middle and high school students as their frequency of reading magazines containing diet related information increased.” (356) -“Children are particularly vulnerable to the messages the media portray and during youth become accustomed to the images conveyed.” (356) - “First, it is possible that the media pressure to be thin, which has previously been focused on females, is now being translated to males, leading to confusion in boys as to what is now the promoted ideal.” (360) - “Thinness is promoted as a standard for female beauty (Tiggemann & Slater, 2004) and the images presented by the media of the so-called ideal shape have become progressively thinner in recent years (Spitzer, Henderson, & Zivian, 1999).” (356) -“It was interesting that both the boys and the girls had similar scores for the media influence to increase muscle size, with both genders being unsure/disagreeing with the statement.” (360) -“Previous research undertaken by McCabe and Ricciardelli (McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2005) established that girls were more likely to adopt strategies to lose weight and boys were more likely to adopt strategies to increase muscle mass.” (360) -“Second, across all forms of the media there appears to be a greater variety of male body sizes and shapes portrayed, as well as less promotion of messages about weight and shape directed at boys (Andersen & DiDomenico, 1992; Nemeroff, Stein, Diehl, & Smilack, 1994; Ricciardelli, McCabe, & Banfield, 2000).” (360) -“This increase in self-esteem may mean that the media messages do not have the same impact on boys as they do in girls because boys’ self-concepts are not limited to body attractiveness and they have a more holistic body perspective (Brown, Cash, & Mikulka, 1990; Martin & Gentry, 1997).” (360-61) -“These findings reflect the integration of the complexities surrounding the onset of adolescence and the messages portrayed by the media that impact on each individuals development at these impressionable ages (9.00–13.99 years).” (362) -“Both the boys and girls disagreed that the media influenced them to gain weight, and this could reflect the current emphasis on obesity in today’s society and, therefore, a negative stigma associated with being overweight.” (362) -“If children become more receptive to the media during adolescence, it is vital that the ideas that are formed about the world are accurate messages since the media appears to play such a critical role in socializing children.” (362)