Media's Influence on Eating Disorders- Eating Disorders- Does Media Play a Role?

In the present day scenario, mass media is, arguably, the most powerful medium of influence. Especially, television or visual media can have a significant impact on the entire populace. With a tremendous boom happening in the world of mass media with internet and the web world coming of age, people are getting information about anything and everything within a few seconds. It is thus responsible for influencing and changing the lifestyle of the people in a significant way.

Eating Disorders:

Eating Disorders are mainly characterized by over-eating and under-eating, binge-eating, under-nourishment, purging, starving one and such other kinds of maladies. Eating disorders not only affect the physical but also the mental frame of an individual.

Role of Media:

People tend to get influenced by whatever they see on the television. They base their decisions on the information that they get from television and other means of mass media without ensuring their authenticity of the information being shown.

There are different advertisements shown on the television where models with a thin and lean look advertise for beauty products and various other cosmetics. Thus there is an image being portrayed that a thin and lean look is beautiful and that people being fat and having some extra-weight cannot look attractive and become successful. Thus people watching these models, especially, women, want to ape these personalities and hence go on a strict diet with no proper guidance or professional help which causes them to become anorexic. Thus youngsters, mainly, teenage girls, copy the models shown in these advertisements and can deprive themselves of food and necessary nourishment causing eating disorders in the hope of becoming the ideal and flawless woman.

The media portrays an image wherein only women with thin and flawless body-figure can look attractive and many a times a non-perfect body figures are correlated with failures and a below-average success in life. It is impossible for all to attain such a perfect look. However women go on an anorexic diet in an effort to become like the models. It is actually the image shown by the ads that women and young girls want to imitate.

Conclusion:

Everyone must try and maintain a good physique a have a good body-shape. However they must not do it at the cost of sacrificing essential body nutrients and without proper medical guidance. Individuals must also not try to ape advertisements and follow discretion while watching their favorite models in the ads. Ads show models with a flawless physique, but do not show the amount of efforts taken by the models to attain the perfect body shape. Individuals must try to go beyond these images and learn to attain a good physique with balanced diet and regular exercises.

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