Does The Media Cause Eating Disorders - Does The Media Cause Eating Disorders?

We've all heard of eating disorders. They've gained more recognition now that celebrities like Paula Abdul have confessed to dealing with them. An eating disorder is basically a compulsion to eat or avoid eating, which in either case damages an individual's mental and physical health. Such a behavior affects a person's life deeply. It affects how they view their personal life, their professional life, self image and social outlook. Eating disorders occur with both men and women, but it's more common in the earlier years of life and occurs in women twice as much as it occurs in men. The common forms are Anorexia and bulimia. For individuals with eating disorders, their sense of well being is determined by what they eat or what they don't eat.

For many, especially young girls, eating disorders are the result of conforming to peer pressure or a widely accepted appearance. And this is where media plays its not so healthy part. The print and electronic media are overflowing with images of celebrities and models who are unbelievably thin and promote the concept of ‘health'. The fact is that such models usually suffer from eating disorders themselves. Then there are the Barbie dolls that had girls thinking that that was the ideal figure to have, while doctors and health experts shake their heads in disbelief, trying to put the message out there that Barbie's so-called perfect form is actually totally out of proportion. So the media isn't free from blame on this one. Even top models admit that media pressure and the hype that associates beauty with thinness has forced them into having eating disorders.

So is the media the sole culprit? Not likely, not if you really look into it. The media sells what the people want to see. And from our early years we are taught that our success in life lies on our looks. Children are praised for being ‘cute' and programming designed for them has the very thin and buff good guys and fat ugly bad guys. To their defense, producers of such programs say that it's unwise to put in the minds of children that being fat and obese is something they should choose in their life. Especially considering that today's child has moved from the traditional outdoor games to the computer based ones. But then the absolute definition of beauty in ‘thin terms' is what has lead many a person to hate their body. The media plays an undeniable role in determining the accepted image of success and this is why it becomes so crucial for parents to explain to their children that what they see on TV is not the healthiest form of human life, instead those are fake images.

Every body has its own level of optimum health, something the now slowly growing group of plus size models are trying to chalk out. But still, as long as there will be movies with ridiculously thin actresses and ridiculously buff male leads, the teenagers of today will be at high risks for eating disorders and other psychological troubles. The media is responsible for what it promotes and it should be responsible about what it chooses to portray as healthy.

• Juliana Breckinridge
• 03/01/2009, 4:59 PM
• 0 Comments