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Literatire Review on Body Image

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Literatire Review on Body Image
Literature Review
“The perception of the ideal female body presented in the media has a negative effect on an adolescent female’s physical wellbeing.”
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The media is the means of television, newspapers, magazines and movies. The media plays a large role in influencing young adolescent girls perception especially in regards to body image.(Uttara, 2012). The media can effect an adolescent female’s perception of body image in a positive or negative light especially towards their physical wellbeing. This refers to being free from illness and disease also the care of our bodies through nutrition and exercise. NASW (2001) explains the media places values and standards in relation to appeal through idolising and promoting images of celebrities and those within society that have what is seen as the ideal body. Although these images and people in which young female adolescents idolise can contradict healthy behaviours. Uttara (2012) further supports this idea by suggesting that unhealthy behaviours are falling into a trend for adolescent females, studies have shown that relationships between fashion magazines have had a major influences towards eating disorders and risky behaviours. Although a number of sources of the media are now promoting a healthy body and warning people of the effects of unhealthy body weights and behaviours it is still a cause of concern. (Uttara, 2012)

The ideal female body image in which the media displays is unachievable for most, although a number of teenage girls will go to extremes and use unhealthy behaviours such as poor eating habits, dieting, extreme exercise and starvation to lose weight. (NASW, 2001) . Uttara (2012) suggests these unhealthy behaviours can lead to a number of eating disorders, which have a high impact on physical wellbeing. These include “anorexia, a psychological disorder that distorts the perception of the body leading to self starvation in order for extreme weight loss” , Bulimia which is “an eating disorder where



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