Eating Disorder Research Paper

Eating disorder is a very complex topic to discuss, not just because it has subdivisions like anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder but because of several different causes associated with the disorder. This paper would focus on one of the associated causes that impacts eating disorder known as media exposure. Although the media exposure as different forms such as magazines, television and social media (Instagram, twitter and Facebook). This paper wouldn’t be based off a specific form of media even though most of the studies used are.
The research would be based mostly on how the media describes beauty and how media’s portrayal of ideal female beauty affect how people view themselves. According to Dr. Kilbourne, the media

The research was conducted by two research assistants, one of which was an American experienced in eating disorder eating symptoms and the other was Fijian (local in the community). Eating disorder symptoms were assessed using a modified Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) which included questions concerning bingeing and purging behaviors. The participants who had self-reported symptoms underwent an open-ended, semi-structured interview that was transcribed after being conducted. Participants were also asked questions during an interview regarding personal ownership of a television, amount of television viewing, height and weight measurement and other questions were based on exposure and the effect of Western television with association to how body image was viewed in form of a questionnaire.
The results showed that symptoms of disordered eating were increasingly high after the exposure to television. The two key indicators in this study were significantly increased leading to high EAT-26 scores and self-induced vomiting to lose weight upon prolonged exposure to television. Based on the data, the participants urge to lose weight was associated with their desire to model themselves after television