Years of research has been put forwards into societal perceptions of adolescent girls. A survey of 14 461 girls aged 15-19 found that 42.1% of the females were concerned about body image which was the third major issue of personal concern (Craike. et al., 2016, p.2). It has been concluded that majority of adolescent girl’s perceptions of themselves are negative in the sense of their body image, which resolves in girls going on dieting fads to reduce their weight. Some fitness training interventions aim to improve body image by encouraging individuals to focus more on the functionality of their body and less on their appearance (Groth et al., 2011, p). Furthermore, individual’s dissatisfaction with their body leads to negative attitudes about eating, becoming obese and mental problems relating to eating habits (Craike, M. et al., 2016, p.2).
A variety of cultural, social, physical, and psychological changes that characterise adolescence uniquely interact to shape body image between the adolescent ages of girls. These cultural ideals and beliefs are also reinforced by significant others in adolescent’s immediate environments, including family, peers, and romantic partners (Voelker, Dana K., et al., 2015, p. 150). Many influences exist during the teen years, including transitions like puberty that naturally affect one’s body shape, weight status and appearance. Salient influences on body image include the media, which can target adolescents, and peers who help shape beliefs about the perceived body ideal.
There have been numerous research investigations into the influences as to why adolescent girls focus on nutrition, whether it be body image or health benefits. The greatest decline in body satisfaction occurred in girls under the age of 19 following exposure to overly thin media images (Voelker, Dana K., et al., 2015, p. 150).
The researcher has hypothesised that throughout this investigation it will be found that girls focus on nutrition for body image reasons rather than for health benefits due to a number or social and economic factors surrounding adolescents in today’s society. For instance, studies found that “by the age of 16-18 years almost 20% of girls reported being on some form of special diet” (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2007). The researcher is going to determine what the strong influence is of statistics such as these. Due to statistics such as these, being ambiguous as there can be more than one meaning to such results, the researcher will try and determine the reasons as to why girls go on diets narrowing down to whether or not it’s due to health reasons or body image reasons.
A study undertaken by Brown, Callie Lambert examined the association between weight loss behaviours and motivations for weight loss in children and adolescents and the association of weight status with these behaviours and motivations in a nationally representative sample. The results found that half of the participants reported attempting to lose weight, and children with obesity attempted to lose weight more frequently than children who were at a healthy weight. The motivation to be better at sports was more likely to be associated with attempting weight loss through healthy behaviours, whereas children motivated by teasing and other negative peer interactions were more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviours. It was found motivations for losing weight status. It was concluded that many children and adolescents attempt to lose weight, using either or both healthy and unhealthy behaviours, and behaviours differed based on motivations for weight loss. This study drew clear delineations between children who were motivated by sports improvement and thus motivated by teasing. However, motivation is complex, and, in the real world, it may not be possible to reduce this to an either or proposition.
Chapter Two: Literature Review
The literature review revels the complexity of motivations for both health benefits and body image for adolescent girls. The review will reveal the research that has been conducted over an extended period of time into the influences that media and friends & family have on adolescent girls towards the focus on nutrition and whether or not it encourages them to focus on it for health benefit reasons or for body image reasons. This review continues to describe adolescents concern about their body image, and finally will explore the research of experiential factors that are commonly believed to influence female adolescents’ focus on nutrition. It is worth noting that the cited research largely focuses on female adolescents, and the paper’s analysis will also be restricted to looking at young women in a private secondary school. This is not to be inferred to mean that adolescent males are not also impacted by societal pressure related to body image.
Media
Media has always been of a great influence to adolescents in which the way they perceive their body image. Medias influence on body image indicated that women have been challenged by unattainable ideals associated with femininity, and media portrays mixed messages about what is feminine and what is attractive. It is clear that the media promotes body ideals, especially in regard to socially constructed femininity (Spencer, et al., 2015, p.6). The importance of body image and how participants were influenced by celebrities, even by being aware of their diet and physical routines, concluding that media negatively promotes thin ideals (Spencer, et al., 2015, p.8). This resulted in the internalization of perceptions. Interestingly, however, some studies suggest that not all women internalize these messages to the same degree for a variety of reasons. One recent study suggested that internalization happens at a higher rate if the viewer is paying get greater attention to the images (Brown & Dittmar, 2015). Given that adolescents are frequently distracted, they may be paying less attention to the thin images than older viewers. Thus, there may be less internalization than one would initially anticipate.
A line of research has demonstrated that mass media play an influential role in shaping women’s perceptions about their body image. Television has been criticised for promoting the thin-ideal female body that contributes to women’s body dissatisfactions (Zhang, Yan Bing and Shu-Chin Lien, et a., 2010, p 15l). Findings from (Zhang, Yan Bing and Shu-Chin Lien, et a., 2010, p15) have shown that media not only over-represent thin characters but also consistently portray a steadily thinning ideal body image for women. Female body image and sex-role stereotypes presented in advertisements and television regularly portray the narrative that the only happy women are thin or extremely thin women; people with other body types are largely relegated to the background.
Berman and White (2013) also discuss how “unrealistic, photo-shopped and stereotyped images used by the media influence young people’s body images and impact their feelings of body satisfaction”. In addition, today’s media makes it even more difficult for adolescents to escape what is perceived as ideal for body and beauty. Social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and many others constantly display impractical media images causing young people to deconstruct their sense of self.
One study completed by Tiggeman and Slater (2013) sought to examine the relationship between body image concern in teenage girls and Facebook exposure. They found that Facebook users had a higher score in regards to body image concerns than those who did not have a Facebook account. The study concluded by stating that the Internet represents a “potent socio-cultural medium of relevance to the body image of teenage girls” (Tiggeman & Slater, 2013). This study provides additional insight into how media, specifically social media, influences why adolescent girls may strive to become fit.
Another study done in Australia by Fardouly, Willburger, and Vartanian (2017 found that if adolescent girls frequently viewed ‘fitspiration’ photos on Instagram, they were more likely to suffer from body image concerns. These body image concerns led to additional internalization and appearance comparisons to celebrities and peers. It is therefore suggested that more frequent Instagram usage may negatively influence body image concerns and beliefs (Fardouly, Willburger, and Vartanian, 2017).
Friends and Family
Secondly, friends and family are of a great influence towards how adolescent girls look and feel about themselves. It was found that girls in the reviewed studies stressed the importance of being perceived by their peers (Spencer, Rebecca A, et al., 2015, p.7), girls did not discuss their health as a priority rather they defined it in relation to body size (Spencer, Rebecca A, et al., 2015, p.7). (Voelker, Dana K., et al., 2015, p.150) contended that the encouragement from parents to control weight was also linked to heightened weight concerns among high school girls and boys.
Furthermore, negative weight talks and dieting among family members especially from mothers who serve as role models for body image, has been shown to be related to body image concerns and disordered eating behaviours in adolescent girls. (Voelker, Dana K., et al., 2015, p.150) friends and peers influence adolescent body dissatisfaction through various mechanisms, including appearance based teasing and criticism, modelling and discussing appearance concerns, making appearance comparisons and judging the appearance of friends. It was also found that some adolescents engage in “fat talk” which is related to negative body image and greater levels of psychological distress and affects body image above and beyond merely thinking negatively about one’s body (Groth et al., 2011, p.19). Findings underline the need to address such harmful self-talk in order to improve body image.
Summary
As demonstrated above in the literature review, media and friends and family are of a great influence towards the issue of girls and their motivation to focus on their body image and how it can be improved.
Chapter 3: Methodology
The aim of this research that was conducted was to investigate whether or not adolescent girls focus on nutrition for body image or for health reasons. The research began by gaining a broad understanding and overview of the issue, which was done thorough online research and from collecting information from both local and state libraries.
Survey
The investigation utilised online surveys as the instrument for data collection, hosted by SurveyMonkey.com, and created by the researcher. The surveys were completed by the selected participants online due to it being easier and quicker in nature in comparison to paper surveys. The survey was sent out to participants aged 15 to 17 years of age from a secondary private school in Melbourne, Victoria.
Furthermore, students of the selected school are able to have profound access to technologies in their classes therefore being more favourable towards and engaged with this medium. Additionally, participants had ready access to computers with Internet capabilities, making the online survey method is more practical.
The survey was split into seven questions; The first section simply asking their age and following on to ask several questions in regards to nutrition and whether or not they focus on it for health reasons or for body image. The questions that participants were required to answer aimed to ascertain their attitudes and opinions towards the issue, they as well might be facing.
All participants were give the same survey questions in order to compare results easily.
The researcher had to ensure that the questions asked in the survey were straightforward due to the age bracket of participants being tested, they will also need to ensure that they aren’t complicated so that the most reliable responses are received.
The researcher ensured that all the participants were readily available and because the data is only from one demographic the results could not be generalised to a population of adolescent girls.
Ethics
There were few ethical concerns that the researcher came across throughout this investigation. The researcher ensured that a consent form was sent to the principal of the school requiring approval for the Survey to be sent out in case there were any participants who were currently suffering from any mental health problems that have relation to the researcher’s topic. The researcher also had to ensure that the survey was minimal so that it would therefore minimise participants’ exposure to the potentially stressful stimulus. Participants were also advised in the email sent out that if participants don’t wish to continue they can simply delete the email.
The other issue that the researcher faced, was whether or not participants would answer the questions with full honesty due to be around their peers at the time the survey is to be completed. The researcher ensured this problem was not encountered by leaving the survey open for twenty-four hours meaning that participants could do they survey in a separate environment to their peers. The researcher also reminded participants that the survey is anonymous therefore there was no way that participants could be easily identified allowing for complete anonymity.
Participants
In order to investigate both of the focus points, health and body image there needed to be participants. The participants that the researcher involved in this study were those that were in years nine to twelve. They all attended the same Victorian private school in Melbourne.
Chapter Four: Results
This chapter will explore the data collected by participants in the online survey.
Figure 1: Percentage of adolescents that became concerned about their body image between ages eight to eighteen.
Participant’s demonstrated in figure 1 that roughly between ages 10 and 16 year was when their perceptions on body image were altered. As shown in the table, adolescents that completed the survey were most concerned about their body image at a young age with the section in the graph that reads ages ‘12-14’ demonstrated the highest rate. It is therefore shown in figure 1 that adolescents became most concerned with their body image as they enter teenage years.
Figure 2: Percentage of adults that believe social factors (e.g. Media) are a major influence on how they perceive their own image in comparison to those who don’t.
In figure 2, participants answered whether or not social factors were of a major influence to how they perceive their body image. As expected nearly 80% of those who completed the survey said “YES” whereas only nearly 20% of those participants said “NO”.
Figure 3: Percentage of adolescent girls that chose a range of factors they believe influence them to focus on their body image
Figure 1’s question asks “what influences you the most to focus on your body image?”. Giving a set of four answers, including media, movies/tv shows, friennds & family or boys. From the responses given it is clear that media and friends & family are the greatest influence. With 51% selecting media and 39% selecting friends & family.
Figure 4: Percentage of adolescent girls that either did or did not become concerned about the way they look as they became older
Figure 4’s question asks “have you become more concerned (if so) about the way you look as you become older?”. Giving a set of three answers, yes, no or have never been concerned with my body. The researcher found that the answer “YES” was the most common with 82% of those that completed the survey chose it. With only 17% saying no and 1% saying they have never been concerned with the way they look.
Figure 5: Percentage of adolescent girls that believe either health benefits and body image influence them to have a healthy diet
In figure 5, the question from the survey asks “what influences you to have a healthy diet”. There was a series of 3 responses to select from, body image, health benefits or other. There wasn’t a great gap between the percentage of those who chose body image in comparison to those who chose health benefits. Only 53% said body image, whilst 44% said health benefits and 1% said other. The researcher expected there to be a greater amount of adolescents choosing body image rather than health benefits and was surprised with the out come from that question. However, in light of the cited Brown & Dittmar study (2005), the impact may be less than anticipated because of adolescents’ relatively limited attention span and the incomplete attention that they pay to images in the media.
Chapter Five: Discussion
The first aim of this study was to investigate whether or not adolescent girls focus on nutrition for health benefit reasons or for body image reasons. The research explains the relationship from heavy consumption of media to how it influences adolescents to perceive themselves. It then follows on to analyse how friends & family influences the same negative perspective on adolescent girls.
The most prominent trend established by the research undertaken during the process indicates that adolescents tend to be influenced negatively by media and friends & family in relation to focussing on both health benefits and body image. The research also highlighted the fact that the negative influences start at a younger age than many people would like to believe – body image indoctrination and internalization is already happening in the tween years.
Media
The researcher found that throughout the literature review, media negatively promotes thin ideals for adolescent girls. This study of media revealed that the participants that took part in the survey, in figure 3 said that media was the greatest influence as to why they focus on body image. This supporting what was found in the literature review that the exposure to the media cultivates that person’s perspective such that it is more similar to what the media has created. The survey established that more than half (51%) of participants believed media was a negative influence. In the future, it may be beneficial for a researcher to ask additional follow-up questions to elicit responses on which types of media are perceived to be particularly negative. Similarly, in the review made by the researcher it was found that medias influence on body image indicated women have been challenged by unattainable, and constantly changing, ideals associated with femininity, and media portrays mixed messages about what is feminine and what is attractive.
Because of the relative newness of social media, the impact of social media on body image perception has not been as widely studied as traditional media. However, recent research has indicated that the relationship may be even more disturbing and toxic than what is seen in other media streams. This is largely due to three factors. First, social media is ever present in the lives of adolescents. Second, social media avenues, such as Snapchat and Instagram, are almost purely visual in the messages that they convey. And third, many of these social media channels have filters that allow for the additional distortion and 'perfecting' of images that are sent out.
Friends and family
The data collected from the literature review and in the survey implicated that friends and family were also of a great influence on adolescents’ perceptions about their body and the behaviours that they adopted.
Although social media and other forms of media have a major impact on how adolescent girls react to body image concerns, it is without doubt that the influence of peers is also great. Some studies suggest that adolescent girls may compare their body to their friends and family more than a model in the media (Donaghue & Broderick, 2014). Though additional research will be needed to confirm that, the thought is not far fetched. Just as friends and family can have a negative impact on body image, there is also the potential for them to be a positive influence as well. Donaghue and Broderick (2014) suggested that more programs should be geared towards helping teens reduce body image concerns when the pressure to conform comes from the people around them.
In addition, adolescent girls are much more likely to be a part of a ‘clique’, or a group of like-minded friends. An adolescent female in a clique may find it very important to have a similar appearance to the other girls in the group, which could result in a change in dieting behaviours and result in body image concerns. The attitudes that formulate from appearance based criticisms and praises can be either detrimental or favourable to how an adolescent girl views herself in comparison to others.
The peers and family members that adolescent girls surround themselves with the most have the potential to make a change. Therefore, it is imperative that additional programs provide interventions that can encourage health and fitness among adolescent girls in an effective way. Adolescents will not go without comparing themselves to others, but it’s important to provide them with the proper tools to make informed decisions about their health.
Although the analysis of the aforementioned survey provides insights about the role that friends and families play in shaping adolescents' views on nutrition, it also leaves many unanswered questions. For example, it does not differentiate based on the strengths of the relationship. One would anticipate that a comment by a parent would carry significantly more weight than a comment by a more distant family member or friend. This is only one of many areas that are open for additional research.
Limitations
Whilst demonstrating a trend in support of the researcher’s hypothesis, the researcher is unable to extrapolate these results dues to the nature of this investigation. Therefore, it is not known as to whether or not the trends found in this research are expected to be found in the wider population of secondary adolescent girl students either in other areas of Australia or around the globe. It is important to note that research has found that rates of disordered eating and other behaviours linked with negative body perception vary significantly across countries, for cultural reasons and a host of other factors. One study (Makino, et al., 2004) indicated that anorexia nervosa rates range from a low of 0.1% of the population in some Western countries to nearly 6%. The variations were even more marked when comparing Western and non-Western countries. Given these wide variations, any researcher will need to proceed with caution in drawing cross-country conclusions.
Another significant limitation exists in the study’s methodology. To address potential ethical concerns linked to possibly triggering young women with mental health concerns related to body image, participants were given the opportunity to opt out of participating in the surveys. Therefore, the participant pool may be biased or weighted away from individuals who would have expressed stronger and more concerning opinions in response to many of these questions. There is no immediately obvious way to balance this concern between protecting vulnerable participants and ensuring no inherent bias in the process.
Further implications
In order to address the limitation mentioned above, possibly a long-term experiment may need to be conducted. This could potentially involve the same survey being distributed to the same population of adolescents each year throughout their schooling. This investigation would be able to follow the participant’s change in attitudes, as they get older. This could provide a more definite trend bring recorded and reducing the circumstance of results arising due to chance.
Chapter 6: Conclusion
The aim of this investigation was to unwrap the reasons why adolescent girls focus on nutrition. Whether it is for health reasons (which may lead to healthy outcomes) or for body image (which may lead to unhealthy outcomes, such as disordered eating). This literature illustrates that the two main factors, which are media and friends and family members, greatly contribute to the negative feelings that adolescent girls have about their bodies. Much more will have to be done to combat this issue that teenagers face daily in Australia and worldwide. With proper interventions, which will have to be identified through additional research, it is with hope that future programs will be able to guide teenage girls in making health decisions based on their nutrition and not on their body image.