How Does the Mass Media Influence Girl’s Weight Concerns, Weight Control Behaviours, and Perception of Body Weight and Shape?

Around the globe, there is a growing concern for the increase in young females judging their own body weight and shape. They often engage in unhealthy weight control behaviours in strive to obtain an “ideal weight/shape” recognized by their peers. There are many sociocultural factors that work in conjunction, promoting young girls’ desire to be thinner; one of these being the mass media, or more specifically the printed media such as magazines.  In a research article “Exposure to the Mass Media and Weight Concerns Among Girls” published in the Pediatrics, Field et al. (1999) used cross-sectional survey administered in school to determine the influence of the printed media on girls’ weight concerns, weight control behaviours, and perception of body weight and shape.

The survey method was based on a questionnaire that investigated 548 girls ranging from grades 5 to 12 who attended public schools in the working class suburbs of Boston, MA. First, females self-reported their height and weight. Next, the girls were asked for their frequency in fashion magazine reading and were later classified as infrequent readers (never or once a month), moderate-frequency readers (2-5 times a month), and high-frequency readers (2 times a week or daily). Lastly, the girls were asked if the women picture in magazines influenced their own feelings about weight and shape and if the pictures make them want to lose weight. In addition, the girls were asked if they have gone on a diet and/or initiated exercise to lose weight because of an article in a magazine.

It was found that the prevalence of self-body dissatisfaction and wanting to lose weight were doubled compared to the prevalence of overweight. This indicates girls with healthy weights were not satisfied with their body weight and shapes.  There was a correlation between the influence of the media and the frequency of reading women’s fashion magazines. A positive linear association was found between the frequencies of magazine reading to (a) dieting to lose weight, (b) exercise to lose weight, (c) wanting to lose weight because of the magazine article, and (d) feelings that pictures in magazines influence their idea of perfect body shape. In conclusion, frequent magazine readers were two to three times more likely than infrequent readers to undergo dieting and exercise behaviours to lose weight.

These findings suggests that girls in this school-based study were dissatisfied with their body weight and shape and were influenced by the frequency of reading fashion magazines. The frequency of reading these magazines was positively associated with the prevalence of dieting and/or exercise to lose weight and having gone on a diet and/or deciding to exercise due to the magazine article. This study shows that the print media has strong impact on young girls’ perception of their weight and body shape and how the media dictate the perfect body image.

The major limitation of this study rests upon it being cross-sectional, thus limiting the causality aspect. This means that girls who are dissatisfied with their body shape and weight to begin with may read more fashion magazines which enforce their negative emotions.

In conclusion, the printed media such as magazines affect girls’ idea of the perfect body image (weight and shape). Furthermore, the frequency of fashion magazine reading is positively associated with the frequency of dieting and exercise to lose weight. Moreover, girls were affected by magazine articles to promote dieting and exercising to lose weight. The results suggest that the print media aimed at young girls would affect them greatly, and hence should publicize positive images instead of mass articles related to skinniness.

Reference

Field, A.E., Cheung, L., Wolf, A.M., Herzog, D.B., Gortmaker, S.L., and Colditz, G.A. (1999) Exposure to the  Mass Media and Weight Concerns Among Girls. Pediatrics, 103, E36

How Physical Activities Promote a Healthy Weight and Lifestyle

In order to acquire a healthy weight, we must manage our personal lifestyle. This includes monitoring the food we consume and the physical activities we perform. Monitoring the food we eat is rather an easy task. The easiest way to start acting is to minimize the intake of unwanted saturated fat from junk food and calories from simple sugars such as soft drinks. We can make healthy food choices such as consuming more vegetables which are high in fibre and vitamins and proteins that are low in fat content. This way, we can control the things that are going into our body.

But why do we need to perform physical activities? There is a misconception thinking that people who regularly exercise are those who want to lose weight. The truth is that we would need to perform some kind of physical activity to balance out the caloric intake that comes from the food we consume (1). If not, the excess calories would eventually be stored as fat. Hence, physical activity is closely related to maintaining a healthy weight.

Some people believe that dieting to achieve a healthy weight and performing physical activities to achieve a healthy weight would give the same result. However, doing exercise on a regular basis would be a healthier choice due to the fact that it provides the function of weight management as well as to help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer (2). In order to maintain a healthy weight, we also need a positive mood and a sense of well-being. Not only does exercise give you a fit physical body, it also help improves the psychological state of mind such as reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety that may be caused by stress (2, 3). 

Lastly, people who are beginning to exercise to obtain a healthy weight should start off slowly. Instead of engaging in an intensive training program to begin with, we should build up the amount of physical activities on a daily or weekly basis, depending on the person’s health and capabilities. Research showed that walking quickly can be as good as jogging (4). Therefore, a beginner should choose to walk quickly for 30 minutes and can increase the pace or the amount of time as he/she feels comfortable. But the most important piece of advice is: Don’t Quit!