What the Experts Say I.

Social Media and body image
The social media are usually filled with many pictures and so-called “selfies” which present unrealistic images to many adolescent girls and boys. These may be the reasons for various eating disorders and low self-confidence, since today’s social media culture tends to be more concerned about physical atributes than the meaningful qualities of a person (Pennington, 2015). To show the disproportions in numbers, according to the surveys made by the University of Texas the average woman is 165 cm tall and weights around 75 kg. On the other hand, the models on Instagram and other social media are usually 180 cm tall and weigh 50 kg (Crain, 2016). Looking to the past, there were many studies focusing on the decreasing weight of the models as ideals of beauty. In the years 1950 and 1990 the differences between the ideal and the reality became very significant and since then it continues to influence not just adults, but also teens. Those body images have a negative impact on: “body satisfaction, weight preoccupation, eating patterns, and the emotional well-being” (Spettigue & Henderson, 2004). All of those problems mentioned above can strongly influence both mental and physical health of teenagers as they are the targeted audience on social media and on television every day.


Sources:
Crain, M. (2016). How social media affects body image. The Crimson White.
Retrieved from:
http://www.cw.ua.edu/article/2016/03/non-goals-how-social-media-affects-body-image

 Pennington, C. (2015). The Impact of Social Media on Body Image. UConn Today.
Retrieved from: http://today.uconn.edu/2015/02/the-impact-of-social-media-on-body-image/
Spettigue, W., & Henderson, K. A. (2004). Eating Disorders and the Role of the Media. The Canadian Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Review, 13(1), 16–19.
Retrieved from:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2533817/

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