Eating Disorders and the Media – the Science behind It

Not all of this is just allegation and counter-allegation. Scientists have spent years and billions of dollars in trying to arrive at accurate statistical data that would help bolster or destroy the opinion that the media contributed largely to the increase in eating disorders. Researchers have actually conducted extensive studies using the hip and bust measurements of a number of models for Playboy to show that the trend had changed from ‘curvaceous is in and thin is out’ to ‘thin is in and curvaceous is out’. Scientists and doctors arrived at this conclusion by studying measurements taken over an almost 20-year span, from 1960 t0 1979.

This itself would have been enough to cause a drastic increase in the number of women trying to shed weight in order to look good, thereby greatly increasing the chances of many of these women falling prey to eating disorders.

Media Influence and Eating Disorders – the Logic behind It

There is a definite logic to the way people influenced by the media fall victim to eating disorders. The notion that their body shape is not the desired one, unlike the bodies shown on TV and the movies, can cause a sharp lowering of self esteem. Once this happens, the rest follows soon enough. You either exercise excessively, almost obsessively, to et back in shape, or you kind of give up and eat more to empower yourself in your mind. The other thing you may end up doing is to eat to retain control over your mind, and then throw up once you realize that this is not actually going to help you. All of these are classic symptoms of the different eating disorders.

In Conclusion

In conclusion, while it is a highly debatable topic, as to whether the media is actually responsible for the increase in the number of eating disorder patients today, the fact is definitely that it is not entirely blameless.