Body Image Flashcards
BMI
calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters
Youth BMI
age and sex-specific, called “BMI-for-age”
Obese youth are at greater risk for…
High blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, bone and joint problems, asthma, anxiety and depression, bullying
3 possibilities of how media influences wait
- sedentary behavior displaces physical activity
- the intake of nutritionally poor foods primarily occurs when using media
3.advertisments for food leading to poor eating habits in youth, post viewing
Research on main meals while using media
Possibilities: Tv leads to poor eating habits, families that consume few healthy foods also ten to watch a lot of TV
Research on snacking while using media
Snacks are most likely to be consumed than other meals, viewing unhealthy snacks increased intake of both healthy and unhealthy snacks
Advertisements lead to poor eating
Children prefer food products that they have seen advertised on TV in comparison to those they have not, food consumption occurs after TV is turned off
Active Video Games=Exergames
require physical exertion to play
Benefits of Exergames
positive health effects equivalent to moderate exercise, encourage a more playful way of learning certain content
Obesity Stigma
the negative attitudes, stereotypes, and discriminatory behavior aimed at overweight people
Obese children are viewed as….
selfish, lazy, stupid, ugly, sloppy, unlikeable
Treatment of obses children in media
less likely to be preferred as playmates, higher levels of teasing and bullying
Effects of negative treatment due to obesity stigma
poor self-esteem, depression, overeating/binge eating, physical inactivity
Depiction of overweight characters
Cartoons= less intelligent, happy and loved, eating more junk food, more physically and verbally aggressive
National Campaigns to prevent obesity
posters coded for stigmatizing content- showed unhealth beverages or food, highlights overweight or obese person
Higher levels of media use are associated with:
characterizing obese youth in a negative manner, stating greater dislike of obese youth, having more negative attitudes towards obese children and adolescents
Strongest predictor of weight bias
image exposure
What is body image?
How you picture yourself in your mind, what you believe about your own appearance, how you feel IN your body not just ABOUT your body
Negative body images
distorted perception of your shape, feeling discomfort, shame, anxiety about your body
Positive body image
you see yourself as you really are AND you like yourself
Body image acorss development
50% experience body dissatisfaction, most prefer bodies thinner than their own, females more than males
Kids were asked if they wanted to switch different characters in candy land…
Those who originally picked thin characters were less willing to switch than those who originally picked obese characters
Majority of girls with ______ body image wish they were as skinny as the models, but girls that had _______ body image did not.
Negative, positive
Body representation in Disney animated films
Body weight- most characters were average or above-average
Characteristic of body types- thinness=attractiveness, large physiques=leadership
Fitspiration
images and videos designed to inspire viewers towards a “healthier” lifestyle
fitspiration on instagram
No images portray thin males, but 75% female images
Societal pressures to be thin or fit come from three sources
family, peers, and media
Pressures lead to accepting the notion that…
to be beautiful one must be thin or fit
Body dissatisfactions leads…
engaging in unhealthy behaviors
Results of research about media and body image in early childhood
media exposure at age 3 was positively correlated at age 4 with stronger positive stereotypes related to thinness and greater dietary restraint
Result of “Am I too Fat to Be a Princess?”
Kids asked to pick the one they would like to look the most like, and 82% said they could be a princess regardless of their weight
For girls, watching TV shows and music videos lead to:
higher endorsement of the thin ideal, lower body satisfaction, restrained eating
After watching clips body satisfaction was measures and the results were:
girls with higher levels of thin ideal internalization showed higher body satisfaction after exposure to thin ideal characters
Experimental research on adolescent girls
Exposure to thin models results in an immediate increase in girls body dissatisfaction
Correlational research on adolescent girls
Tv viewing and body satisfaction findings have been mixed
Genre matters
Viewing soap operas have positively been
associated with the drive for thinness
Self-objectification
valuing one’s body from a third person perspective, that is how you look to others
What does self-objectification lead to?
A preoccupation with one’s own physical appearance
____ levels of self-objectification associated with _____ selfie posting
High, greater
Girls who regularly share self-images on social media report higher…
overevaluation of shape and weight, body dissatisfaction, and internalization of the thin ideal
Race and body types on TV-African American women
African-American women tend to be shown with a wider variety of body types than white women, this helps lead to healthy body image
Race and body types on TV- White women
For White women, watching White characters on Tv is associated with a negative body image
Race and body types on TV- Latina women
Viewing of shows with women of color is associated with greater body satisfaction, but viewing shows with mostly White cast is linked with a decrease in body satisfaction
Body Surveillance
the monitoring of one’s physical appearance, can lead to body shame
Components of self-objectification
behavioral- persistent body surveillance
cognitive- the tendency to value appearance over competence
SSI
sexualized Instagram images
Results from female SSI
Girls: Frequent viewing of Female SII= thin-ideal
internalization =valuing appearance =body
surveillance
Boys: NS
Results for male SSI
Girls & Boys: Frequent viewing of Male SII=
muscular-ideal internalization= body
surveillance
NEDA
National Eating Disorders Association
Disordered Eating
A pattern of atypical behaviors used to achieve
or maintain a lower body weight- chronic dieting, abuse of diet pills and laxatives, and self-induced vomiting
Eating Disorder (ED)
A psychiatric disorder characterized by severe
disturbances in body image and eating
behaviors- requires clinical diagnosis
2015 Research
Ethnic similarity isn’t important for body image,
the size of the models/actors is
Media-ideal internalization
Endorsement of the unrealistic body shape ideals portrayed in the media
Mechanism
-media-ideal internalization=self-objectification
-self-objectification= body shame & appearance anxiety
-body shame & appearance anxiety =disordered eating
Media Components- Media and disordered eating during middle childhood research
Awareness: knowledge of thin ideal and beauty
standards
Pressure: Perceived pressure from media
Internalization: wanting to look like media figures
Exposure to thin-ideal media is associated with _______ eating disorder symptomatology for adolescents
increased
Teens with _________ eating are more interested in thin-ideal media than those with __________ eating patterns.
disordered, normal
Who engages in unhealthy weight control behaviors?
Teens that want to look like celebrities and teens who report feeling that the media pressures them to be thin
Pro-anorexia and Pro-bulimia websites
The members do not consider
eating disorders to be serious
mental conditions that require
treatment
On these websites eating disorders are portrayed as:
a positive lifestyle choice, as a condition from which one should freely choose whether to recover
Content on these websites:
Thinspiration, “tips and tricks”, message boards for discussion and support
Pro-ana website viewing decreases and increases…
Decreases- self-esteem, self-efficacy related to appearance, perceived attractiveness
Increases- perception of being overweight, negative mood
