Media and Advertising

This video was made in 2006 and so the statistics are slightly off.

Here are some more recent statistics:

• 1 in 5 women suffer from an eating disorder
• 90% of those who have an eating disorder are women between ages 12-25
• The most common behavior that will lead to an eating disorder is early dieting.
• The diet and diet related industry is a $50 billion/year enterprise
• According to a recent study, over 1/2 of the females between ages 18-25 would prefer to be run over by a truck than be fat, and 2/3 surveyed would rather be mean or stupid
• 51% of 9 and 10 year old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet
• Time Magazine reports that 80% of all children have been on a diet by the time that they have reached the 4th grade

• If today's mannequins were actual human women, based on theoretical body fat percentage, they would probably cease to menstruate.

Information found at http://www.eatingdisorderinfo.org/Resources/EatingDisordersStatistics/tabid/964/Default.aspx

Many of the BEAUTIFUL flawless pictures that the media put on display are often the results of photoshop...making it unrealistic and impossible to reach naturally. Follow the link below to get a preview. For my classmastes...this link is the video that was shown in class.

The Perfect Lie

CONTROVERSY

There was a lot of controversy with regards to how diets were promoted. Up for discussion was the ethics behind advertisements. For example, The Ethics of Weight Loss Commercials provides good discussion and points out an interesting perception.