What's the Skinny on Weight and the Media?

Some say the media contribute to eating disorders; others say the media play a part in the obesity epidemic. Can it be both?

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) September 29, 2006 –- Earlier this month, Spain’s top fashion show banned the use of ultra skinny models, prompting a worldwide debate about the influence of the fashion media on girls’ body image and eating disorder rates.

This week, the Federal Communications Commission and Congress announced the formation of a joint task force to examine the media’s contribution to America’s childhood obesity epidemic.

So which is it?

Counterintuitive as it might seem, research has shown that the media contributes to the prevalence of both eating disorders and obesity.

“These trends might seem paradoxical, but studies have shown that the media can have a major impact on kids’ health, both in terms of eating disorders and obesity,” said Jim Steyer, Common Sense Media CEO. “When you think about all of the time that kids spend with the media, and all of the food messages they see on TV and even through ‘advergames’ on the Web, it’s not surprising that researchers say media use can be a big risk factor for obesity.”

“On the other hand, when you consider the unrealistic, ultrathin image of beauty that the fashion industry promotes, it makes sense that the media can contribute to eating disorders, especially among girls and young women.”

“What you see here are two extremes of the same issue: the media’s huge impact on kids. It’s really a matter of what kind of media messages the kids are exposed to, and how they process those messages.”

Below are fact sets about the media and its relationship to obesity and eating disorders.

OBESITY AND THE MEDIA:

•    Studies show that ads targeted to kids 12 and under lead them to request and consume high calorie, low-nutrient products.

•    For each hour of TV that kids watch per day, they eat an average of 167 more calories than their non-TV watching peers.

•    A pre-schooler’s risk of obesity jumps 6 percent for every hour of TV watched; 31 percent if the TV is in their bedroom.

•    American kids consume more than one-third of their daily calories from soft drinks, sweets, salty snacks and fast food.

•    The food and beverage industry spends $10 billion per year marketing to youth alone.

•    Kids see one food commercial for every 5 minutes of TV on Saturday mornings.

•    83 percent of foods advertised during TV shows targeted at kids are for fast food, snack food, and sweets.

EATING DISORDERS AND THE MEDIA:

•    By the time a girl is 17, she has seen more than 250,000 messages about what she is supposed to look like.

•    Twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8 percent less than the average American woman. Today, the average model weighs 23 percent less.

•    The average American woman is 5’4” and 140 lbs. The average American model is 5’11” and 117 lbs.

•    A survey of college-aged women found that those who read magazines and watched television shows glamorizing thinness were more likely to have an eating disorder.

•    27 percent of girls openly admit that the media pressures them to have a perfect body.

•    A Harvard University study showed that up to 2/3 of underweight 12 year old girls considered themselves to be too fat.

•    By age 13, at least 50 percent of girls are unhappy with their appearance.

•    As many as 10 million females and 1 million males are currently struggling with an eating disorder in the United States alone.

•    40 percent of newly identified cases of anorexia are in girls aged 15 to 19.

ABOUT COMMON SENSE:

Common Sense Media is the nation’s leading independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to improving the impact of media and entertainment on kids and families.

For more information on the media and its impact on kids’ health, visit www.commonsensemedia.org.

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