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
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