The Skinny on Skinny

The media's effect on body image and self esteem.

I recently attended a videoconference entitled Body Image in Children and Adolescents in the New Millennium by Dr. Suzanne MacDonald of the Divisions of Adolescent Medicine and Pediatric ER from McGill University, Montreal. Now as an orthopedic surgeon, this is not a topic that would normally grab my attention. Her excellent presentation, however, was as thought provoking as it was disturbing. Her main thrust was as follows: Serious eating disorders, dysfunctional body image and low self-esteem among children and adolescents is an ever increasing problem and at least part of the blame rests squarely with the media industry.

Here are some facts about today’s children and adolescents:
• During the teen years, children will gain 15 – 20% of their adult height, up to 50% of their adult weight and 45% of their maximum skeletal mass.
• The development of the concept of self is initially mostly restricted to body image and peer comparison.
• There exists a tremendous pressure and influence from the media to be thin, beautiful and fit for girls and athletic and handsome for boys.
• 50 – 60% of adolescent girls consider themselves to be overweight and have attempted to diet.
• 1 -2% of girls will develop Anorexia Nervosa
• 3 -5% of girls will develop Bulimia Nervosa
• Increasingly younger girls are being diagnosed with these disorders
• 11% of US children are overweight.
• 14% of US children are at risk of becoming overweight.

Here are some facts about the power of media in our children’s lives:
• The average US child watches more than 4 hours of TV per day
• US children watch between 1023 and 1460 hours of TV per year
• US children spend an average of 110 hours per year reading magazines
• 56% of US children 8 -16 have a TV in their bedroom
• 36% of US children under 6 have a TV in their bedroom
• The average US child sees 40,000 commercials per year
The media are bombarding our children with a false concept of reality especially when it comes to body image. They are convincing our children that skinny is not only normal and beautiful but also necessary for success and acceptance. The skeletal Kate Moss has become someone to be emulated. By today’s standards, Marilyn Munroe would be considered overweight! Currently, the average model weighs 117lbs and measures 5’11” while the average woman weighs 140lbs and is 5’4”.
Valery Rainon McManus on the power of advertising: “Ads sell products but they sell a great deal more; they sell values, images and concepts of love, sexuality, romance success, popularity and perhaps most important, of normalcy…To a very great extent, they tell us who we are and who we should be.”
The following clip, part of the DOVE SELF ESTEEM FUND, is an example of the cosmetic industry’s attempt to convince us they are cognizant of their harmful influence and are actively addressing the problem (a bit like the smoking cessation ads by tobacco companies). It really illustrates just how manipulated and unrealistic the cover girl image is and what an impossible dream it is for the average woman to achieve this look.

There are however some important steps being taken to address the issue. The most significant of these is the recent ban by Spanish authorities of underweight models from fashion catwalks. You can read the whole article here. From the article: “The Sept. 13 decision from the Madrid regional government to enforce a ban on underweight models for Madrid Fashion Week catwalks has sent shock waves through the global fashion industry and set off a chorus of calls to expand the ban and formulate a new industry standard. The government's decision is intended to promote a healthier body image.” The move is likely to be copied by a number of other countries including England, Italy and India. Hopefully, designers like Karl Lagerfeld who have stated they like their models to look like "cloth-hangers" will see the light.
We have a duty as parents to reinforce in our children and in each other appropriate and realistic standards of body image. We need to encourage and reward achievement rather that appearance. I have always told my patients that it is not how much they weigh that is important but rather how healthy they are. Scales are not a good measure of how healthy you are; I want to know how far you can walk or run. The media industry’s emphasis on unrealistic and unachievable body type is doing our young men and women a great disservice at the very least. In far too many cases, it is playing a significant role in the development of serious eating disorders and life changing problems with body image and self-esteem.

Joseph Froncioni