How Much Does Popular Media Affect Body Shape?
The American population is heavier now than ever before with more than two thirds of adults being overweight and almost half of those are clinically obese. Yet, at the same time, the weight loss and diet industry is a multi-billion dollar entity.
Part of the problem is our perception of our body image. Body image is a subjective concept of our physical appearance determined by our cultural group to epitomize beauty. Since the early 1900`s the popular media have portrayed thin, toned, fit females as having the ideal body image. This trend was briefly interrupted in the 1950`s with the reign of Marilyn Monroe as `the perfect woman`. However, from the flapper dresses of the 20`s, through Twiggy, to the modern-day fashion models, the media has portrayed a very thin body image as the target for young women.
So, why do we have such a problem with weight management if the target is so visible?
The Pitfalls of Following the Fashion Trend.
Our ideal body image represents the physical body form that we want to imitate, whether that is a fashion model, celebrity, athlete, or other role model. However, these images are often misleading having often been digitally enhanced or airbrushed prior to printing. The result of this deception is to make the "ideal body shape" unattainable and puts unnecessary psychological pressure on vulnerable young women, pushing many of them into eating disorders by promoting an irrational fear of being fat.
A study done in 2004 found well over three quarters of ten year old girls are afraid of becoming fat and almost half of the girls in the six to ten year age range stated they wanted to be thinner. A more recent study by the Girl Scouts of America organization found that one third of the young women surveyed had a distorted body image and two thirds wanted to lose weight. It has also been noted that girls under the age of 18 were much more influenced by media using thin models than college-age or older women. Also, while white, Hispanic, and black American women have traditionally had different cultural views about their ideal body image, this perception difference is narrowing with the influence of the media.
The upshot of all of this pressure for many of these young women is poor self image. After trying valiantly to follow the fashion trends, they become disillusioned with themselves and give up, no longer paying attention to the principles of a good diet. Consequently, bad habits set in and waistlines expand leading to further declines in self image.
How to Get a Fashion Conscious Body Without Risk.
Understanding the factors influencing the development of a healthy body image is of interest to many, whether struggling with weight management or not. Consider the following steps for re-engineering yourself:
Acceptance of self - be happy with who you are.Stop bending to the power of the media.Remove stress - stress has a huge influence over our body's fat storage.Introduce relaxation - make time in your day for 15 minutes of relaxation such as yoga.Exercise - begin slowly such as a walk after supper and build up from there.Eat a balanced diet - avoid processed foods whenever possible.While this may all seem very obvious, it is amazing to see how many people have trouble adopting this into their lifestyle. Good habits take weeks to develop but only days or even hours to destroy, so remember to begin small to cause the least discomfort and increase activity gradually.
