According to recently published research by communications studies assistant Prof. Kristen Harrison, the media may share part of the blame for eating disorders and other unhealthy obsessions in women.
Young kids watch a lot of TV and they are influenced by what they see.
I think media images play a big role in the way women think they should be. Harrison surveyed 232 female undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin in 1994 and found that exposure to women's fitness and dieting magazines was correlated to eating disorders. Harrison's research indicates that media exposure accounts for about 5-10 percent of eating disorder problems. The findings also indicate that about 15 percent of surveyed women meet the criteria for having eating disorders. Magazine racks at local stores offer wide selections of periodicals devoted to fashion, fitness and dieting.