Why does the youth fall victim to eating disorders?

Introduction

Over the past few decades, the prevalence of eating disorders has steadily risen among adolescent girls. Although there are several causes of eating disorders, many point to the media's constant portrayal of the ultra-thin female body as normal, attainable, and ideal as one of the greatest contributors. These media models weigh 23% less than the average woman and fit the established weight criteria for anorexia, making their body types unrealistic and unhealthy. Ample research suggests a relationship between media exposure and eating disorders; however, many have theorized that this relationship holds only if girls internalize the thin-body ideal and compare themselves to thin media models. This entry discusses internalization, comparison, and the direct relationship between media and eating disorder relationships.

Of the 1% to 10% of the population suffering from anorexia and bulimia, 85% to 95% are female, usually aged 15 to 19. Anorexia ranks third in chronic illnesses among adolescent females. Furthermore, many adolescent girls have disordered eating patterns, meaning they use unhealthy weight control methods but do not have a full-blown eating disorder. For example, one study found that 11% of teen girls vomited, 8% used diet pills, and 7% used laxatives to lose weight. Compared to females, the 1 million males suffering from eating disorders, mostly binge eating, is relatively small but on the rise. Studies of adolescents, media, and eating disorders concentrate on females almost exclusively. Males are studied in the context of developing body dysmorphic disorders rather than eating disorders.

Internalization Of The Ultra-Thin Body

Adolescents have a high degree of exposure to media, with 80% reading magazines for at least 4 hours a week and the average girl watching 3 to 4 hours of television every day. These media promote the ultra-thin body ideal as desirable and attainable by using primarily ultra-thin models and female TV characters, printing abundant dieting articles and ads, and printing fitness articles that focus on weight loss or attractiveness.

Adolescents internalize these messages about thinness. Some studies have found that adolescent girls describe their ideal body types as similar to media models—tall and extremely thin—and rate borderline anorexic bodies as extremely attractive. Others have found that media exposure explained one third of the variation in high school girls' belief in the ultra-thin ideal and that frequent readers of fashion magazines were twice as likely to have dieted and three times as likely to have exercised to lose weight. Moreover, the degree to which girls internalize the thin ideal has been associated with eating disorders.

Social Comparison And Interpersonal Attraction

Research also suggests that comparison with media models links media exposure to disordered eating. This association occurs when adolescents want to look like media models and compare themselves with models, and several studies support this assertion. Studies have found that older adolescents with eating disorders were significantly more influenced by media and more likely to compare their bodies with media models and celebrities than those without eating disorders. Female adolescents without eating disorders tended to compare themselves with friends ...