Behavior to control body weight and dieting is developed by sociocultural pressure, women want to have slim body that is considered ideal in media and men want to have hyper muscularity with little body fat, all these lead to disorders in eating. Due to modern media, pressure to increase muscles, dieting, images that force to attain ideal thin body and dieting are prevailing. Risk factors that promote eating disorders are body dissatisfaction and pressure to become thin due to media.

 

Dear Readers,

Please find below another guest post by Dure Maknoon Razia an undergraduate student of biochemistry, GCUF.

You can read Dure’s first article by clicking here and her another great post by clicking here

Role of media in body image dissatisfaction and

eating disorders, how to rehabilitate this? Role of

media in body image dissatisfaction and eating

disorders, how to rehabilitate this?

In media, the bodies that shown are mostly leaned, highlight utmost thinness of women and emphasize on high muscularity of men. However, women that are represented on screen and print have extremely low body weight which is unhealthy but showing that this low body weight is normal and glamorizing. Behavior to control body weight and dieting is developed by sociocultural pressure, women want to have slim body that is considered ideal in media and men want to have hyper muscularity with little body fat, all these lead to disorders in eating. Due to modern media, pressure to increase muscles, dieting, images that force to attain ideal thin body and dieting are prevailing. Risk factors that promote eating disorders are body dissatisfaction and pressure to become thin due to media.

There is also a role of traditional media like magazines, television and movies in promoting eating disorders. A lot of time spent in magazines, videos, television, music in which mostly focused on beauty by thinning body which attract mostly children under age eighteen. So, the adolescent girls who want to get this so-called beauty often reported with eating disorders. The extent of positive expectations by young women for attaining ideal body shape as shown in media is associated with the level of endorsement of body dissatisfactions. Research have proved that focused on media resulting in negative feelings and thoughts about one’s self and about body. As mostly individuals fail to attain such body images thus it leads to dissatisfactions. Similarly, all these effect men to attain muscularity as shown in media and get rid from this leaned body.

Now social media is playing important role by sharing material on “fitspiration & thinspiration”, these contents promote weight control behaviors. Moreover, social media sites are highly interactive and allow users to comment on post, so an individual do not want to get negative comments on photos. This also increase their concern about their body shape. Evidence proved that social media is more powerful than traditional media and strongly associated in promoting eating disorders.

Fig: Relationship between media and eating disorder

• Now the question arises how to stop this?

Now social activism and social marketing strategies affecting a huge population. This may prove helpful to drag the attention from media having such type of contents.

But this is not a permanent solution, if we want to have a permanent solution then we want to make us pure internally. In this case, Islam is the best guider, it is duty of every Muslim to protect himself from all acts that are against sharia. As social media is beneficial and positive but there are also disastrous consequences arises from this. There is need that they must be checked. Control and regulations of media are keys to prevent from its harmful effects. It is an old saying that prevention is better than cure, we all know its meaning but none of us follow it. As a Muslim we have to avoid from such types of contents and images that may cause such type of disorders.

Allah Subhanahu W ’Tala said

“(Say to the believing men that they should lower their stare and protect their shyness: that will build for larger cleanliness for them: and Allah is well aware with all that they perform)” (24:30)

And also,

Allah (SWT) said in the holy Quran:

(“O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones)” (66:6)

And,

“Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious” (16:125).

All these show that how Islam protect us from the evils of modern age and also the disorders created by them. A complete plan of life is given by Islam which show that which is harmful and which is beneficial for us.