DEFINITION OF CULTURE AS IT INFLUENCES BODY TYPE IMAGES AND DIETARY PREFERENCES

Many cultures set standards as to what they believe defines beauty in individuals. Often, body type
images are unrealistic and harmful. Research indicates that those who try to conform to their
culture’s idea of body image will be more prone to developing eating disorders. Perez and Joiner
[21] examined body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating in a small group of both black and
white college women based solely on their self-perceptions. Of the women surveyed, the ideal body
image size was larger for black women than for white women. The results also indicated that white
women reported themselves to be overweight, whereas black women reported being underweight
compared with ideal body image size. These perceptions indicate that dissatisfaction with body
size may result in differing eating disorders. Although white women may binge and purge, black
women may only binge, resulting in malnourishment and obesity, respectively. This is not to say
that white women are more likely to have eating disorders compared with black women, but each
group may develop eating disorders to either lose or gain weight to fit their culture’s mold. To
combat these problems, cultures need to encourage realistic and healthy body images [21].
An individual’s perception of an ideal body image is greatly influenced by television and
advertisements. The public connects with the characters on television and looks to them as role
models for how they should appear. A study conducted by Greenberg et al. [22] used an evaluation
of prime-time television to identify body type characteristics. The study found that 14% of the
female and 24% of the male characters viewed were overweight or obese. These characters were
most commonly considered less attractive and unlikely to have romantic partners or show physical
affection, and they were shown eating more than the normal-weight characters. On the contrary,
87% of the women viewed during the study were of average weight or underweight. In reality,
however, only about half of all women in the United States are average weight or underweight. In
real life men are three times more likely to be obese than their television peers; male television
characters were six times more likely to be underweight than their counterparts in real life. These
findings illustrate that television may promote a negative self-concept in overweight individuals.
When overweight individuals compare themselves with television characters, they may incorrectly
associate large body types with negative appearance status and behavior.