Monday, September 29, 2008

Link Between American TV and Eating Disorders

I actually watched CBS this morning. I usually don't. Not for any particular reason. Anyway, a segment on eating disorders briefly brought up an interesting study in Fiji. American television wasn't brought to Fiji until the late 1990's, allowing a study of its effects to be studied. What were the findings? Well, eating disorders shot up, and girls thought they were too fat.
Hum, unrealistic images perhaps? Commercials selling products that make a better you?
I'm sure advertisers believe they are trying to get people to be healthier (read money), but there has never been a time in human history when people were wrought with weight disorders. There seems to be a link with idealization and techonolgizing that have caused our brains to fail our bodies. I think people forget that the mechanisms for anorexia and obesity are the same and tend to brought about because of self esteem issues. Health has become trendy instead of healthy. How sad.
Here is a link to the study: http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/180/6/509?ijkey=d3acdb91ca9c34c9537a9b6cdd64abae09810dcf

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