Media's Influence on Body Image

Body image is our perception of what our own bodies look like, rather than the shape they actually are.  It reflects in what we wear, what we eat, and how we carry ourselves.  However, half a century of glossy magazines has taught us that our body image isn’t good enough, and that we should strive for an ideal that probably isn’t attainable for our shape.

A Little to the Left – What we Find Attractive

An easily-repeatable psychological study that illustrates the divergence of our own body image from what others actually see can easily be done in high schools.  A set of body silhouettes of both men and women is shown to a random sample of both girls and boys.

Each subject is shown both sets, and asked which of the silhouettes of their own gender they think their body shape is closest to, which they want to be more like, and which of the opposite gender they find most attractive.

The results are telling: Most girls answer that they believe they are one or two body shapes larger than they actually are, and identify silhouettes that are close to or very underweight as their ideal.  They also pick the more or less average-build body shapes as their ideal for a male.

The boys, on the other hand, usually identify themselves as smaller than they are if they are skinny, and much larger than they really are if they are overweight.  Those who are average to skinny usually want to be a body size that is larger than most women find attractive.

Why Body Image is Misleading

Being fit is more important than being skinny, and people who exercise regularly generally find it easier to attain their goal weight. However, this is not what mainstream media tells us. The body shapes identified by most women as ‘ideal’ represent women who are quite badly underweight.

People with this body shape are unlikely to be very healthy, unless they are professional marathon runners. It requires constant exercise and a high metabolism to maintain this shape in a healthy way.

Developing a Positive Body Image

It’s important for parents to reinforce a positive body image in their child’s mind from an early age, so that even if your child is overweight, they see their body for what it really is, and not much larger.  If your child is overweight, address this by encouraging them to do more active sports or by eating healthier as a family.

Don’t tell your child that they need to lose weight, because that instruction coming from a parent will stay with a child until well into adulthood.