The influences of media
...statistics.htm Dieting One out of three women and one out of four men are on a diet at any given time. 35% of occasional dieters progress into pathological dieting. Two out of five women and one out of five men would trade three to five years of their life to achieve their weight goals. Diet and diet related products are a 33 billion dollar a year industry. In 1970 the average age a girl started dieting was 14; by 1990 the average age dropped to 8. One half of 4th grade girls are on a diet. 51% of nine and ten year old girls stated they felt better about themselves when they were adhering to a diet. Frequent dieting is highly correlated with depression. While only one out of ten high school girls are overweight, nine out of ten high school juniors and seniors diet. 79% of teenage girls who vomit and 73% of teenage girls who use diet pills are frequent readers of women’s health and fitness magazines. This is in contrast to less than 43% of teenage girls who do not participate in these purging methods. Body Image In one study, three out of four women stated that they were overweight although only one out of four actually were. Four out of five U.S. women are dissatisfied with their appearance. 81% of ten-year-old girls are afraid of being fat. A study found that adolescent girls were more fearful of gaining weight, than getting cancer, nuclear war or losing their parents. Over one half of normal weight white adolescent girls consider themselves fat. Following viewing images of female fashion models, seven out of ten women felt more depressed and angrier than prior to viewing the images. When preschoolers were offered dolls identical in every respect except weight, they preferred the thin doll nine out of ten times. A study asked children to assign attractiveness values to pictures of children with various disabilities. The participants rated the obese child less attractive than a child in a wheelchair, a child with a facial deformity, and a child with a missing limb. A study found that women overestimate the size of their hips by 16% and their waists by 25%, yet the same women were able to correctly estimate the width of a box. In a Glamour survey, 61% of respondents said they were ashamed of their hips, 64% were ashamed of their stomachs and 72% were ashamed of their thighs. 30% of women chose an ideal body shape that is 20% underweight and an additional 44% chose an ideal body shape 10% underweight. 50% of women wear size 14 or larger, but most standard clothing outlets cater to sizes 14 or smaller. Models In 1950 mannequins closely resembled the average measurements of women. The average hip measurement of mannequins and women were 34 inches. By 1990 the average hip measurement was 37 inches, while the average mannequins hip measured only 31 inches. If today’s mannequins were actual human women, based on their theoretical body-fat percentages they would have probably ceased to menstruate. The average U.S. woman is 5’4” and weighs 140 pounds. In contrast the average U.S. model is 5’11” and weighs 117 pounds. Over the last three decades fashion models, Miss America contestants, and Playboy centerfolds have grown steadily thinner, while the average woman’s weight has actually risen. Also over the last three decades male Playgirl centerfolds have become more muscular and have less body fat, while the average man’s weight and percentage of body fat has increased. Some of the pictures of the models in magazines do not really...