A Pepperdine University research shows that three-year-old girls are already obsessing over weight, reports Live Science. Becoming thin is seen as an "emotionally invested" topic for young girls sampled within the study. Child psychologists discover the outcomes being disturbing, as body dissatisfaction problems have been linked to the occurrence of eating problems.
Everybody would like to be slender
Lead researcher Jennifer Harriger told Live Science that worrying regarding being thin has been linked in numerous additional scientific studies to both eating disorders and depression. Harriger explains it is definitely a problem with viewing those whom are overweight in rude manners since bullying in ways like weight hazing can start up.
Understanding the human body
The age of females included within the study was generally not old sufficient for the children to verbalize complex thoughts and feelings, so Harriger had to use innovative methods. In order to comprehend whether girls favored slender types or excess fat types, the young children responded to 3 figures identical in every way except body size – slender, average and unwanted fat. With each, the kids were asked to associate six good and six negative adjectives. Words like "nice, smart, friends, neat, cute and quiet" were available as optimistic descriptors, while "mean, stupid, no friends, sloppy, ugly and loud" the given as negative possibilities.
On average, 3.1 negative and 1.2 good words were affixed to the larger figures, while 1.2 negative and 2.7 optimistic adjectives were associated with the thin figures on average. The thinnest was chosen in both scenarios most often when the toddler females were required to circle which of the figures they'd rather have as a best friend. Further game scenarios tended to strengthen these results.
Commercials above and above make being thin look great
It is engrained into America that this is the way things are. You cannot be beautiful without staying slender, is the argument. Commercial communications are pervasive, even for young children. A more productive use of our time would be to stress healthy living. Instead of stressing unwanted fat or thin, this would be productive. Media exposure getting limited while also modeling healthy eating habits can greatly help children. They would also benefit from optimistic talk and exercise.
Articles cited
Live Science
livescience.com/culture/preschool-girls-thin-ideal-eating-disorders-101116.html
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