Media affects women's body image -- badly

MADISON, Wis., May 13 (UPI) -- Exposure to media depicting ultra-thin actresses and models significantly increased women's concerns about their bodies, a U.S. review found.

University of Wisconsin-Madison postdoctoral researcher Shelly Grabe and psychology professor Janet Hyde did an analysis of 77 previous studies involving more than 15,000 subjects.

Although on one level the results seem obvious, Grabe said many people still resist the idea that a societal influence, like the media, can have a real impact on how women view themselves.

"We've demonstrated that it doesn't matter what the exposure is, whether it's general TV watching in the evening, or magazines, or ads showing on a computer," said Grabe. "If the image is appearance-focused and sends a clear message about a woman's body as an object, then it's going to affect women."

The analysis also revealed that studies conducted in the 2000s showed a larger influence of the media on women's body image than do those from the 1990s, Grabe said.

"This suggests that despite all our efforts to teach women and girls to be savvy about the media and have healthy body practices, the media's effect on how much they internalize the thin ideal is getting stronger," Grabe said in a statement.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International