Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Miscellaneous EATING DOSORDERS AND THE MEDIA EATING DOSORDERS AND THE MEDIA How does the media alter the perceptions of adolescents' body image? & How does this exposure to the "ideal body" lead adolescents to develop eating disorders? Media exposure creates an ideal body image that is not easily maintained by most adolescents and causes adolescents to be dissatisfied with their bodies and leads to unhealthy diet habits and other more sever eating disorders. What if the media was limited to adolescents, would they be less likely develop an eating disorder or would they just in fact have there own thoughts creating the "actual self". Adolescents tend to have their own perceptions of what they want their bodies to look like and with the media's influence the develop eating disorders. The media's functions include entertainment, sensation, and in many ways a good source to learn cultural and societal lifestyles that are lived by other boys and girls of their ages. Today we see many adolescent boys and girls consumed in what they should look like. Media exposure such as, television, movies, magazines, advertisements, and beauty pageants use models that are very thin, in shape and are to what the media portrays the ideal bodies of an adolescent. The purpose of this study is to measure the media's influence on eating disorders. I will focus a great deal on adolescent's eating disorders in regards to the "actual self"(what is practical) and the "ideal self" (what should be) of the perfect body. Using a questionnaire I will screen forty boys and girls from sixteen to about the age of twenty-one as potential participants for my study. I will ask questions about their bodies and who or what has given them reason to want to change or not change their bodies. The second part will be to depict an even amount of boys and girls for the study with at least two males and females to represent the ages I am using for the study. The third part is to divide the chosen participants into two groups one the controlled group and the other the experimental group. Both groups will keep a journal of how their perceptions of themselves chance over the course of the experiment. There will also be group discussions on how we view our bodies with both groups separately. The group discussions will focus on what the adolescents feel their bodies are the actual self and what they ought to look like with very little influence from the media. The control group will be given television shows to watch like, Baywatch and magazines like, Cosmopolitan and GQ to read this, will allow me to as they watch and read measure the discrepancies of their ideal self vs. their actual self. The discussions in this group will also include a hidden agenda bringing up talk of media influences with regards to the ought self and the ideal self." In closing the study will end in a comparison of the data from both the experimental and control group. To measure how much the media can alter the perceptions of an adolescent I'll use the journals, group discussions, the observations made in the change in the attitudes of the adolescents on their bodies, and the previous questionnaires to detect who is more susceptible to develop an eating disorder. The experimental group's perceptions of their bodies changed significantly whereas, the subjects within the control group showed little or no change in their perception of their bodies. The groups exposed to all the media's tactics to create the idealistic body image using male and female models with slim figures were more prone to developing eating disorders. For example, take this journal entry from the experimental group subject writes, "There are only fourteen weeks till summer, wow. What will I do but starve myself to get into a bathing suit and look like those girls modeling them in Cosmopolitan's summer time is here summer countdown?" another subject writes, "I can't believe how men are so in shape on that show. If only I could be more like them, I'd do anything to look like them." what does that mean anything would they go to great lengths like binge or over eat himself to gain more definition in his body? I found that the media is very influential to adolescence both male and female. I also found that although I did not provide the control group with reading and programs to watch they would just as the experimental group compare themselves to someone within the media who has been portrayed to be the sexiest or prettiest man or woman. Here is another example, this time from a subject from the control group, "George Cloney is said to be one of the most sexist men in television, he is 5' 7", brown hair and eyes, 163lbs. I am 5' 9" and have both brown hair and eyes, weigh 186lbs. Maybe I should try losing 20lbs?" With these findings I can say that whether the exposure to media is great or small it is there and can lead adolescence to develop some type of eating disorder especially, at the ages of 16-21 were they are experiencing hormonal changes at a rapid speed in some cases. I've measured my control group to show a 76% chance of developing unhealthy diet habits and developing a severe eating disorder. Out of that 76% girls presented more unhealthy eating habits and boys more perceptual change on their body image given the media exposure to the ideal body. Only 11% of the experimental group without being so formally exposed to the media showed signs of change in their perception of their own bodies and the bodies of other males and females within the group. Within that 11%, the majority of the change took place in girls. The remaining 13% showed no change. Both the experimental group and control group were equal in the number of male and females to show no change in their perception of their bodies and of their eating habits. Many studies done on the media and eating disorders depict what aspects of the media distorts the perceptions of adolescents and use female celebrities, psychological states of the adolescent, culture, and other influential media exposure that can lead to eating disorders. My study does about the same but concentrates on all aspects of the media through the eyes of the adolescent. In using body image in my study and how the media creates an idealistic body image through many forms that draws the adolescent to conform is what makes my study a bit different. I can figure out in what ways the media creates these ideal body images. Then, try to find ways to prevent the development of eating disorders within the adolescence. In any sense, the relation is the same to exploit the media's negative effects on adolescence. Bibliography: Abstracts ABSTRACT 1: AN: 1998-95017-003 DT: Dissertation-Abstract TI: The role of self-discrepancies in the relationship between media exposure and eating disorders. AU: Harrison, -Kristen SO: Dissertation-Abstracts-International-Section-A: -Humanities-and-Social sciences. 1998 Sep; Vol 59(3-A): 0648 IS: 0419-4209 PY: 1998 UM: AAM9807848 AB: A two-part study was conducted to examine the role of ideal and ought self-discrepancies in the relationship between mass media exposure and eating disorders in 6th, 9th, and 12th grade girls and boys. Ideal self-discrepancies represent the divergence between a person's perceptions of her actual attributes and the attributes she would ideally like to have. Ought self-discrepancies represent the divergence between her actual attributes and those she believes her significant other (in this case, her parents) think she ought to have. Part One was a survey measuring regular media exposure, self-discrepancies, agitation and dejection, and eating disorder symptomatology including anorexia, bulimia, drive for thinness, and body dissatisfaction. Exposure to thinness-depicting and -promoting media (television programs with conspicuously thin main characters and magazine genres that focus on dieting and thinness) was related to increased disordered eating, whereas exposure to sports magazines and television programs with overweight main characters was related to decreased disordered eating. Ideal self-discrepancies moderated these relationships, which were stronger for discrepant than non-discrepant participants. Part Two, conducted one week later with the same participants, was an experiment measuring agitation and dejection in reaction to viewing a video in which a thin adolescent girl was socially rewarded, an obese adolescent girl was socially punished, or an adolescent girl whose body size was obscured was engaged in socially neutral activities. Participants who viewed the thin-rewarded and fat-punished videos were subsequently more agitated and dejected than those who viewed the control video. Males were most upset by the fat-punished video, whereas females were equally upset by the fat-punished and thin-rewarded videos. Self-discrepancies again acted as moderators: Participants with ideal self-discrepancies were especially vulnerable to the emotional effects of the body-salient videos, as were participants high in anorexic symptomatology and body dissatisfaction. This study provides evidence that media exposure is related to eating disorder symptomatology for adolescents in general, and more strongly so for certain subgroups of adolescents. Findings for the survey and experiment are integrated in a discussion of the processes by which media exposure is related to the development of self-discrepancies and eating disorders in children. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) ABSTRACT 2: AN: 1999-00141-006 DT: Journal-Article TI: Eating disorders and the ideal of feminine beauty in Italian newspapers and magazines. AU: Mondini, -Silvia; Favaro, -Angela; Santonastaso, -Paolo SO: European-Eating-Disorders-Review. 1996 Jun; Vol 4(2): 112-120 IS: 1072-4133 PY: 1996 AB: Analyzed the content of 347 articles (on eating disorders, nutrition, fitness, beauty and body care, cosmetic surgery, and fashion models) issued in Italian national newspapers and magazines over the 1985-1995 decade. The results show: (a) an agreement between the information released by the media and scientific reports on clinical symptoms and sociocultural cause of eating disorders; (b) the press' tendency not to present anorexia and bulimia nervosa as 'true mental disorders'; (c) the media's tendency to show an increase of frequency of eating disorders, to put the blame on parents and to propose single treatments; (d) the diffusion of an ideal of feminine beauty that is impossible to attain for the average woman, and the presence of strategies proposed to achieve this beauty ideal. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) ABSTRACT 3: AN: 1996-04492-003 DT: Journal-Article TI: Awareness and perceived influence of body ideals in the media: A comparison of eating disorder patients and the general community. AU: Murray, -Sara-H; Touyz, -Stephen-W; Beumont, -Peter-J. -V. SO: Eating Disorders: -The-Journal-of-Treatment-and-Prevention. 1996 Spr; Vol 4(1): 33-46 IS: 1064-0266 PY: 1996 AB: Investigated the reported awareness of media body ideals among 50 anorexic (mean age 19.9 yrs) and 30 bulimic (mean age 23.6 yrs) female patients and a community sample of 151 controls, together with the reported influence of these ideals on Ss' body shape- and weight-related attitudes and behaviors. Results showed that Ss with eating disorders were significantly more likely than controls to report being influenced by the body ideals presented in the media. Findings suggest that treatment programs for eating disorders may need to address directly the images and ideals presented in the media. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) ABSTRACT 4: AN: 2000-03427-004 DT: Journal-Article TI: Body acceptance and culture: A study in Northern and Southern Italy. AU: Ruggiero,-Giovanni-Maria; Hannoever,-Wolfgang; Mantero,-Mario; Papa,-Raffaele SO: European-Eating-Disorders-Review. 2000 Feb; Vol 8(1): 40-50 IS: 1072-4133 PY: 2000 AB: Fear of fatness and body dissatisfaction have been considered as influenced by cultural differences both in eating disordered and in normal young girls. The culture of the industrialized world and the rural cultures are the two ideal poles of this theoretical scheme. The great intercultural differences existing between northern and southern Italy were selected as appropriate research areas for this study. The hypothesis assumed that fear of fatness, body dissatisfaction and acceptance of mass media body ideals would be lower in southern Italian female teenagers than in northern female teenagers, while feelings of uncertainty in the identification of emotional states and sensations of hunger and satiety would be higher. Two populations of 14-22 yr. old females drawn from two high schools in northern (n = 236) and southern (n = 111) Italy were compared on the results of DT (Drive to Thinness), BD (Body Dissatisfaction) and IA (Interceptive Awareness) from the Eating Disorders Inventory and I (Internalization) from the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire. Whilst the IA and I scores suggested real cultural differences, no significant differences were found for the scales DT and BD. ((c) 2000 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) ABSTRACT 5: AN: 2000-08046-012 DT: Journal-Article TI: The effect of body dissatisfaction on women's perceptions of female celebrities. AU: King,-Natalie; Touyz,-Stephen; Charles,-Margaret SO: International-Journal-of-Eating-Disorders. 2000 Apr; Vol 27(3): 341-347 IS: 0276-3478 PY: 2000 AB: Research suggests that media exposure causes some women to feel heightened dissatisfaction with their body shape. This study attempted to determine which women are affected as such, by investigating how women feel about their own bodies and how this affects their perceptions of female celebrities in the media. 96 undergraduate females (aged 17.4-34.4 yrs) were shown 1 accurate and 6 distorted photographs of thin and heavy female celebrities. Each distorted photograph made the celebrity appear thinner or heavier than actuality. Participants' chose, which photograph portrayed each celebrity's true body shape. Body shape concerns were measured by the Body Shape Questionnaire. Women concerned about their body shape judged thin celebrities as thinner than actuality, whereas unconcerned women judged them accurately. Both groups judged heavy celebrities as heavier than actuality. Results suggest certain women are affected by media exposure due to their own perception of females in! the media. Prevention strategies, and the media's role in body dissatisfaction and dieting disorders, are discussed. ((c) 2000 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) ABSTRACT 6: AN: 2000-07395-001 DT: Journal-Article TI: Please don't pass the paella: Eating disorders upset Spain. AU: Bosch,-Xavier SO: JAMA:-Journal-of-the-American-Medical-Association. 2000 Mar; Vol 283(11): 1405-1410 IS: 0098-7484 PY: 2000 AB: Recent estimates of the prevalence of eating disorders in Spain indicate that 0.5-1.5% of people (90-95% of them female) 14-24 yrs of age have anorexia nervosa or bulimia. This article discusses the Spanish Senate Eating Disorders Committee's consideration of the family, the media, and the fashion industry as the main culprits in establishing a series of social values that favor "body cult and extreme thinness" over values like "culture or healthy life-customs." Their report concluded that anorexia nervosa and bulimia are multi-causal disorders with a series of sociocultural conditioning factors that can act as predisposing, triggering, and perpetuating cues. It is suggested that campaigns addressed to youth should focus on the importance of proper nutrition, healthy lifestyle, and appropriate self-image. In contrast, information campaigns aimed at preventing eating disorders should be addressed to parents and officials of social and athletic associations for young people. ((c) 2000 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) ABSTRACT 7: AN: 1999-95016-243 DT: Dissertation-Abstract TI: Media influence and the social self: The relation of other awareness to body image and eating pathology. AU: Crowley,-Jill-Jennifer SO: Dissertation-Abstracts-International:-Section-B:-The-Sciences-and-Engineering. 1999 Aug; Vol 60(2-B): 0867 IS: 0419-4217 PY: 1999 UM: AAM9920252 AB: Recent research (Crowley, 1998) has demonstrated that young women's self and body perceptions are influenced by brief exposure to television commercials depicting thin, attractive spokes models when also confronted with a mirror. The hypothesis that other-awareness is an important component of this effect was examined in an experimental study of 173 college-aged women. Young women were presented with a series of commercials depicting thin models and then asked to complete a battery of measures. Other-awareness was manipulated with a mirror and a video camera in four conditions. Although no effect of the manipulations was detected, there was a clear pattern of relations between the opinion of imagined others and women's self- and body-perceptions. Specifically the extent to which participants were aware of the opinions of others was positively related to both a negative body image and measures of eating pathology. In particular, awareness of the opinion of a boyfriend and males in general emerged as significant predictors of a wide range of indices of negative body attitudes and disturbed eating patterns. The discrepancy between one's perceived actual and ideal body image emerged as a mediator between other-awareness and eating pathology. When combined with the results of prior research, these findings support the conclusion that the influence of an imagined other (specifically an imagined male or group of males) may be related to both negative self-assessments and unhealthy eating behavior. ((c) 2000 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) Record 15 of 23 in PsycINFO 1996-1997 AN: 1997-05183-004 DT: Journal-Article TI: Fashion consciousness as a social influence on lifestyle behaviour in young Irish adults. AU: O'Connor,-E.-A.; Friel,-S.; Kelleher,-Cecily-C. SO: Health-Promotion-International. 1997 Jun; Vol 12(2): 135-139 IS: 0957-4824 PY: 1997 AB: The influence of changing fashion as portrayed in the various media is an important potential influence on health-related behaviors, particularly in adolescence. Such health behaviors include smoking and diet. A cross-sectional street survey of young adult men and women (aged 15-30 yrs) in an Irish city was undertaken to ascertain their knowledge and use of print and visual media. A similar study was also carried out on a sample of patients in the same age group with eating disorders attending psychiatric units in 3 Irish cities. The knowledge and media-use information was related to the smoking status and attitudes to own body size of the different groups. In the survey, smoking rates reflected the population average for that age group, but in comparison, a higher percentage of the eating disordered patients smoked. Fashion-conscious women in the survey were more likely to smoke than those who were not. Fashion-conscious eating disordered patients were also more likely t! o smoke. Among males in the survey, the converse pattern was seen; only 13% of fashion-conscious men smoked, compared with 56% of non-fashion-conscious men. Different motivations in lifestyle behavior between between young men and women, suggest that different health promotion interventions are appropriate. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) AN: 1996-06960-006 DT: Journal-Article TI: Primary prevention of dieting disorders: An update. AU: Griffiths,-Rosalyn-A.; Farnill,-Douglas SO: Journal-of-Family-Studies. 1996 Oct; Vol 2(2): 179-191 IS: 1322-9400 PY: 1996 AB: Dieting can result in several physical and psychological problems. A most serious consequence resulting from dieting has been the increasing prevalence of the dieting disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Recent interest in primary prevention has been to target those people at risk such as children, adolescents, college students, and young adults. Several agencies have important roles to play and include: schools and teachers; parents, relatives, and friends; sporting coaches and dance instructors; and the media. This paper reviews the techniques, programs, and strategies available to these agencies and provides suggestions and recommendations for primary prevention. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) Record 21 of 23 in PsycINFO 1977-1983 AN: 1997-71937-001 DT: Journal-Article TI: Dieting, compulsive eating, and feelings of failure among adolescents. AU: Kagan,-Dona-M.; Squires,-Rose-L. SO: International-Journal-of-Eating-Disorders. 1983 Fal; Vol 3(1): 15-26 IS: 0276-3478 PY: 1983 AB: Explored possible relationships among teenagers' feelings of failure, dieting and concern about weight, and compulsive eating. 405 high school students (300 females) completed a 59-item, multiple-choice questionnaire. For 19 areas of achievement, Ss indicated how successful they felt they were in living up to their own expectations and to the perceived expectations of their parents. Compulsive eating and dieting behaviors were assessed with self-report scales developed and tested by the authors in prior studies (e.g., 1983). Among boys, dieting and compulsive eating both were directly related to feelings that they had failed to meet the perceived expectations of their parents. In contrast, the amount of compulsive eating reported by girls depended on the perceived power structure of the family. Girls from families perceived to be mother-dominated reported more compulsive eating, a feeling of failure to meet mothers' standards, and a higher need for social approval than di! d girls from families in which mother and father were perceived to rule equally, or families in which the children were perceived to share equally with parents in making major decisions. ((c) 1999 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved) Word Count: 1162
Copyright © 1998-2008 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved. DMCA Notifications and Requests