Body Image

Various studies show that media’s effect on body image is high in numbers. The effect starts from a very young age. A survey was administered to children aged 9 and 10, and it was found that 40% have tried losing weight. Body image is reflected in all forms of media from advertisements, magazines, TV shows, movies and more. Eating disorders has been a main concern over the years regarding the influence of body image on both males and females; however there have been several engagements to reshape the public body image to that of obese people.  The movement to reshape body image to that of a larger woman is wrong to promote due to negative side effects of being overweight, diseases, and an unhealthy lifestyle.

In recent years the magazine industry worked towards overcoming the trend of excessively thin models. The Quebec magazine Coup de Pouce has included full-sized women, not obese, in their pages. Châtelaine has also decided to not touch up photos in their magazines. Various retailers also pledged not to use underweight models for their clothing. This portrayal of body image is positive for it shows a healthy image as opposed to the movement to start encouraging obesity.

A 22 year old Mass Communications student launched a Facebook campaign called “Love your body, you’re beautiful” to encourage overweight girls to change how they see their bodies. The main aim of the campaign is to help overweight girls feel more self-confident with their bodies.  The student, Bassant Ashraf Al-Qassem said, “Girls must love their bodies first in order to be able to improve its shape.” (2014). Despite her chivalrous efforts, promoting a larger body image to the public is just as dangerous as the obscenely thin body image of the past. Being overweight is linked to various diseases and an overall unhealthy lifestyle.

In 2012 it was noted that about 17% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years were obese. Obese youth are more likely to grow into overweight adults and are open to the risks of cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type-2 diabetes. Children and adolescents who are obese and continue to be overweight are also more susceptible to strokes and several types of cancer. 80% of people who are obese between the ages of 10 – 13 are likely to become obese as an adult. To prevent these statistics it is important to encourage healthy lifestyle habits.

Regarding the fact that the media regarding body image easily influences children and adolescents, it is crucial to promote a healthy image, not the acceptance of obesity. If the movement to encourage larger body images prevailed, then the media would also be encouraging younger generations to accept the diseases they are more prone to due to obesity.

Both men and women between the ages of 8 – 18 are engaged with media images for an average of 7.5 hours a day. It has been proven through various research studies that the media does contribute to pressure regarding body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. The media plays a crucial role in portraying a healthy lifestyle for people to follow, and changing body image to accept obesity does the same as keeping the body image to exceptionally thin women and muscular men.

Some cultures regard beauty on their own scale, regardless of what is medically healthy. A study suggests that African American women have a different picture of what unhealthy weight looks like. Regarding the cultural views of what obese is, Elizabeth Lynch said, “The fact that women felt that overweight body sizes were not too fat suggests that being told they are overweight even by a physician, may not be sufficient motivation for them to attempt to lose weight.” (2014).

A poll was administered and compared the views of women in three different weight categories. Overweight women had low ratings regarding health status. It is a great concern to the women’s health community, and should be another reason to discourage the change of body image to obese figures.

Despite the valiant efforts of increasing appreciation for ones self, it is crucial to do so while encouraging a healthy lifestyle. A pediatrician, Chris Tiongson advised to parents of obese children, “Try to keep the focus on health” (2011). Since health is the main concern in encouraging obesity as an ideal image, it is not an image to be the new idea of body image through various mediums of media.