Photoshop: An American Health Risk

by Becca Marino, BS, NSCA-CPT
Fitness INSPIRATION! Inc.

After reviewing the following research in preparation for my next NOBS 411 Video Blog, I couldn’t
help but notice quite a perplexing paradox. America’s obesity statistics continue to rise, while at
the same time, the American ideal of what people should look like becomes more unrealistically
thin. If something doesn’t change, our nation’s obesity crisis may eventually be compounded with
anorexia and bulimia crises as well. Check out the stats…

Statistics on America’s Ideal of What People Should Look Like:

The average BMI of Miss America winners has decreased from around 22 in the 1920s to 16.9 in the

2000s. The World Health Organization classifies a normal BMI as falling between 18.5 and 24.9
(Martin, 2010).

Statistics on Obesity:

Obesity rates have more than doubled in adults and children since the 1970’s (National Center forHealth Statistics, 2009)
68.8% of adults are overweight or obese; 35.7% are obese. 31.8% of children and adolescents are overweight or obese; 16.9% are obese.
Research also shows that the heaviest Americans have become even heavier the past decade (Beydoun & Wang, 2009).

In America it’s virtually impossible to get through the day without being bombarded with
‘photoshopped’ images of models that are dangerously thin, excessively athletic, and blemish free.
While there is no single cause of body dissatisfaction or disordered eating, research is
increasingly clear that advertisers use of altered photographs to promote “unrealistic expectations
of appropriate body image” do indeed contribute and that exposure to and pressure exerted by
media increase body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Check out the evidence…

The Evidence (Just a glimpse of the extensive list):

Of American, elementary school girls who read magazines, 69% say that the pictures influence their concept of the ideal body shape. 47% say the pictures make them want to lose weight (Martin, 2010)
42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner (Collins, 1991).
A group of college-age women in one experiment were exposed to “ideally thin” images of women, while a control group was exposed to normal images. The study found that women in the ideally thin group were less satisfied with their bodies, had lower self-esteem, and more eating disorder symptoms than the control group.
Pressure from mass media to be muscular also appears to be related to body dissatisfaction among men. This effect may be smaller than among women but it is still significant.
Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting, and taking laxatives (Neumark-Sztainer, 2005)
35-57% of adolescent girls engage in crash dieting, fasting, self-induced vomiting, diet pills, or laxatives. Overweight girls are more likely than normal weight girls to engage in such extreme dieting (Boutelle, Neumark-Sztainer, Story, & Resnick, 2002; Neumark-Sztainer & Hannan, 2001; Wertheim et al., 2009).
Even among clearly non-overweight girls, over 1/3 report dieting (Wertheim et al., 2009).
The effect of media on women’s body dissatisfaction, thin ideal internalization, and disordered eating appears to be stronger among young adults than children and adolescents. This may suggest that long-term exposure during childhood and adolescence lays the foundation for the negative effects of media during early adulthood.

We can’t control whether or not the media continues to use altered photographs to promote
images of impossibly ideal bodies, but we CAN control whether or not we let it affect the way we
feel about ourselves and our bodies. Just say no and don’t let the media’s unrealistic definitions
of beauty and success define your self-image or potential. Here are 5 Tips for Becoming a Critical
Viewer of the Media courtesy of National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).

All media images and messages are constructions. They are NOT reflections of reality.
Advertisements and other media messages have been carefully crafted with an intent to send a very specific message.
Advertisements are created to do one thing: convince you to buy or support a specific productor service. To convince you to buy a specific product or service, advertisers will often construct an emotional experience that looks like reality. Remember, you are only seeing what advertisers want you to see.
Advertisers create their message based on what they think you will want to see and what they think will affect you and compel you to buy their product. Just because they think their approach will work with people like you doesn’t mean it has to work with you as an individual.
As individuals, we decide how to experience the media messages we encounter. We can choose to use a filter that helps us understand what the advertiser wants us to think or believe and then choose whether we want to think about or believe that message. We can choose a filter that protects our self-esteem and body image.

I want to close recognizing that the media is also an important ally, making it possible to raise
awareness about the truth behind advertisements and the dangers of eating disorders. Dear media,
thank you for all you do to make a positive difference.

More to come next week… :)