By Dr Aric Sigman
Last updated at 11:10 AM on 18th October 2010
Last updated at 11:10 AM on 18th October 2010
Jutting collar bones, Twiglet legs and razor-sharp cheek bones. It wasn’t so long ago that these were unenviable signs that a woman had lost too much weight or, worse, was suffering from an eating disorder.
Now, however, it’s hard to think of a female celebrity who isn’t that thin — not just models and actresses, but newsreaders and children’s TV presenters. So much so that women and children not only view skeletal frames as normal, but as something they wish to emulate.
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COMMENT: Scarlett Johansson? Keeley Hazell? Christina Hendricks?
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There has been an 80 per cent rise in young girls being hospitalised with anorexia in the past ten years. And body dissatisfaction is affecting younger and younger children.
Now, however, it’s hard to think of a female celebrity who isn’t that thin — not just models and actresses, but newsreaders and children’s TV presenters. So much so that women and children not only view skeletal frames as normal, but as something they wish to emulate.
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COMMENT: Scarlett Johansson? Keeley Hazell? Christina Hendricks?
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There has been an 80 per cent rise in young girls being hospitalised with anorexia in the past ten years. And body dissatisfaction is affecting younger and younger children.
In a recent study published in the British Journal of Developmental Psychology, almost half of the three to six-year-old girls surveyed said they worried about being fat.
Yet any serious correlation between visual media and the rise of eating disorders has largely been dismissed. Until now, so-called ‘body politics’ has been a cultural and psychological debate, owned by feminists and eating-disorder therapists. They dismissed blaming the visual media as too simplistic.
However, new research shows there is a much stronger link between visual media and eating disorders. Repeated exposure to images of thin women alters brain function and increases our propensity to develop eating disorders.
Yet any serious correlation between visual media and the rise of eating disorders has largely been dismissed. Until now, so-called ‘body politics’ has been a cultural and psychological debate, owned by feminists and eating-disorder therapists. They dismissed blaming the visual media as too simplistic.
However, new research shows there is a much stronger link between visual media and eating disorders. Repeated exposure to images of thin women alters brain function and increases our propensity to develop eating disorders.
Even more interesting is the fact that while these neurological changes occur in women, they do not in men.
This week, I am publishing a paper on the topic in the Biologist — the journal of the Society of Biology. What triggered my research was hearing both the teenage girls I lecture and the rational, intelligent women I know, talk about their body hang-ups.
As a father, I also have concerns about the role models offered up to my children.
I’ve collated global research and travelled to remote cultures, including North Korea, Bhutan, West Papua, Burma and Burkina Faso, to observe the influence of electronic media, speaking to doctors, nurses, teachers, parents and children.
This week, I am publishing a paper on the topic in the Biologist — the journal of the Society of Biology. What triggered my research was hearing both the teenage girls I lecture and the rational, intelligent women I know, talk about their body hang-ups.
As a father, I also have concerns about the role models offered up to my children.
I’ve collated global research and travelled to remote cultures, including North Korea, Bhutan, West Papua, Burma and Burkina Faso, to observe the influence of electronic media, speaking to doctors, nurses, teachers, parents and children.
It all leads to the same conclusion: the prevalence of thin women on television is a public-health issue requiring urgent action.
Many studies have already confirmed the psychological effect such images have on women. But now we can see the biological effects. Scientists have identified sudden, unexpected changes in the brain function of healthy, body-confident women when they view certain female figures.
Many studies have already confirmed the psychological effect such images have on women. But now we can see the biological effects. Scientists have identified sudden, unexpected changes in the brain function of healthy, body-confident women when they view certain female figures.
In a recent study at Brigham Young University in Utah, healthy women looked at images of models in skimpy bikinis.
Some of the models were overweight, some thin. On viewing each image, the women were told to imagine that someone else was saying the model looked like her.
When they were presented with the overweight images, the brain area called the medial prefrontal cortex (the front part of the brain linked with strong emotions such as unhappiness) showed increased activation in all of the women.
Merely imagining that they might be overweight seemed to lead women to question their sense of self. When the test was carried out on men, it had no such effect.
On the other side of the world, Hiroshima University found that when you show a woman her body on a screen and adjust the width, brain areas involved in emotional reactions such as fear and anxiety were ‘significantly activated’.
Even printed words such as ‘obesity’ or ‘heavy’ elicit similar neurological reactions — but, again, only in women.
Some of the models were overweight, some thin. On viewing each image, the women were told to imagine that someone else was saying the model looked like her.
When they were presented with the overweight images, the brain area called the medial prefrontal cortex (the front part of the brain linked with strong emotions such as unhappiness) showed increased activation in all of the women.
Merely imagining that they might be overweight seemed to lead women to question their sense of self. When the test was carried out on men, it had no such effect.
On the other side of the world, Hiroshima University found that when you show a woman her body on a screen and adjust the width, brain areas involved in emotional reactions such as fear and anxiety were ‘significantly activated’.
Even printed words such as ‘obesity’ or ‘heavy’ elicit similar neurological reactions — but, again, only in women.
Further evidence of the impact of visual media comes from Harvard Medical School. In a landmark study, scientists visited Fiji to evaluate the effect of the introduction of television on body satisfaction and disordered eating in adolescent girls. In Fiji, until recently, the ideal female form was full-figured and dieting was rare.
In 1995, television arrived and within three years the percentage of girls demonstrating body dissatisfaction rose from 12.7 per cent to 29.2 per cent. Dieting among teenagers who watched TV increased dramatically to two in every three girls and the rate of self-induced vomiting leapt from zero to 11.3 per cent.
Molecular biologists at Harvard Medical School now believe that external stimuli may activate major psychiatric disorders by changing how our genes function. Childhood distress does precisely this and it is conceivable that early or prolonged body dissatisfaction may also disturb DNA, triggering eating disorders in susceptible girls. But how does this affect women and not men? It may be that it is evolutionary — a way of women ‘keeping up with the Boneses’.
An abundance of skinny women on screen makes viewers question their own attractiveness or ‘mating value’. Not to be left behind, women compete by losing weight themselves. Modern life has hijacked an ancient survival mechanism.
Molecular biologists at Harvard Medical School now believe that external stimuli may activate major psychiatric disorders by changing how our genes function. Childhood distress does precisely this and it is conceivable that early or prolonged body dissatisfaction may also disturb DNA, triggering eating disorders in susceptible girls. But how does this affect women and not men? It may be that it is evolutionary — a way of women ‘keeping up with the Boneses’.
An abundance of skinny women on screen makes viewers question their own attractiveness or ‘mating value’. Not to be left behind, women compete by losing weight themselves. Modern life has hijacked an ancient survival mechanism.
A decade ago, the British Medical Association’s Board of Science and Education demanded ‘a more responsible editorial attitude towards the depiction of extremely thin women as role models’. Yet matters have since worsened. While it’s easy to blame extreme catwalk models, it’s everyday images on television — those of children’s TV hosts, newsreaders and talent-show judges who are deeply unrepresentative of most British women — that are dangerous to girls.
Surely this is discrimination? The BBC, for instance, is ‘committed to reflecting the diversity of the UK audience’ in terms of race and gender. Why isn’t female physique considered an aspect of ‘diversity’? Why aren’t size 16s — the average dress size of British females — allowed to read the news or be a CBeebies presenter?
Fortunately, more and more scientists and prominent medical bodies are beginning to view the media as playing a major role in eating disorders. The Royal College of Psychiatrists recently issued a statement saying the media propagates ‘unobtainable body ideals’ and that airbrushed images should carry a kite mark.
So it appears that while men eat food, women have a relationship with food. This relationship has grown increasingly dysfunctional. Forty years after the debut of body politics, biology is explaining more precisely why fat is indeed a feminine issue. And it’s one that requires urgent action.
Fortunately, more and more scientists and prominent medical bodies are beginning to view the media as playing a major role in eating disorders. The Royal College of Psychiatrists recently issued a statement saying the media propagates ‘unobtainable body ideals’ and that airbrushed images should carry a kite mark.
So it appears that while men eat food, women have a relationship with food. This relationship has grown increasingly dysfunctional. Forty years after the debut of body politics, biology is explaining more precisely why fat is indeed a feminine issue. And it’s one that requires urgent action.
Dr Aric Sigman is a Fellow of the Society of Biology. His paper A Source Of Thinspiration? The Biological Landscape Of Media, Body Image And Dieting is published in the Biologist.
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COMMENT: We have an obesity epidemic, and this guy's concerned that girls and women are pressured to be thin? FUCK HIM.
Why didn't he mention cutting way down on flour and sugar? And tell women to get at least 100 grams of healthy fat (animal, nut, and fruit fats), and at least 100 grams of protein per day? What a fucking asshole.
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