How the Media Affects Diet, Nutrition and Exercise Essay

How the Media Affects Diet, Nutrition and Exercise - Essay Example Many multidimensional models of messy eating (e.g., Garfinkel & Garner, 1982) count mass media under the heading of "sociocultural (risk) factors" without a huge deal of concentration to mechanisms of influence. In more detailed analyses media are interpreted as instruments of propaganda in the service of patriarchy and big business (Bordo, 1993; Wolf, 1991). Whatever theoretical harmony exists seems to revolve around two points. First, mass media both support and reveal body shapes, styles of clothing, and other images that signify ("embody") intricate themes of gender, race, class, beauty, identity, desire, success, and self-control in postindustrial societies (Bordo, 1993; Gordon, 1990; Kilbourne, 1994; Nichter & Nichter, 1991; Stice, 1994). ... nd research and the many complex effects being proposed, we examine the relation between mass media and messy eating by addressing some supposedly simple questions (after Harris, 1994): 1. What rationale is there to deduce that media help provide a "context" in which the mechanism and syndromes of messy eating thrive 2. Do content analyses prop up arguments about the nature and degree of messages that might add to messy eating 3. To what amount are females between the ages of 9 and 25, the population at risk for eating disorders, exposed to those mass media containing toxic messages 4. What is the status of the proof from association and tentative studies examining the effect of mass media or media images on that population 5. Which theories within the field of mass communication, developmental psychology, and social psychology might direct theory and research toward an understanding of media effects 6. What are the particular implications of existing work on mass media for research on the etiology of eating disorders The "mass media" are openly supported institutions and forms of communication that produce messages designed for a very huge, very assorted, and fundamentally unidentified audience (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 1994; Harris, 1994). The messages serve many purposes, including entertainment, education, government, and, certainly, engagement of huge groups of people so that advertisers can sell them products. Children, adolescents, and adults interact with a wide variety of mass media, including television, music delivered by compact discs and radio, and telecommunications available through personal computers. In fact, books and articles about eating disorders in and of themselves constitute a form of mass media that may be