Watching TV changes viewers' perceptions of women's bodies

Watching TV makes viewers prefer thinner women, according to a new study of body image perceptions.

British researchers studied 299 people living in remote Nicaraguan villages who either had regular or hardly any access to TV shows.

Those who had very limited access preferred female figures with a higher body mass index, while people who watched more shows favoured thinner women.

The Central American villagers were chosen as they had similar backgrounds in their nutrition, income and education, but had differing access to TV.

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This meant researchers were able to isolate the effect of TV exposure. The researchers from Durham University in England say the findings, published in the ‘Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’, offer the best evidence to date that TV is shaping perceptions of body ideals.

They say the thin ideal in the media can lead to body dissatisfaction and can play a part in eating disorders and depression.

Professor Lynda Boothroyd, from Durham’s psychology department, said: “TV and advertising bosses have a moral responsibility to use actors, presenters and models of all shapes and sizes and avoid stigmatising larger bodies.

“There needs to be a shift towards a ‘health at every size’ attitude and the media has an important role.”

People living in this part of Nicaragua generally did not have access to magazines or the internet and none had a smartphone.

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