An Extreme Form of Dieting: the Framing of Eating Disorders in Women’s and Teen Magazines

• In Event: Content Framing in Media and Online Health Messages

Abstract

It is believed that the number of people suffering from eating disorders has reached epidemic proportion. Magazines are believed to cause a substantial number of women to develop eating disorders. The purpose of this study is to determine the types of frames author’s of teen and women’s magazines use when discussing eating disorders. The time frame for the study was January 1994 to September 2004. The sample consisted of 17 teen magazines and 34 women’s magazine articles. The study found that author’s tend to frame eating disorders as: (a) an extreme form of dieting; (b) an isolating and bonding mechanism; (c) a faulty coping mechanism; (d) attributable to the media or one’s parents; and, (e) a by-product of certain sports or athletics in general

Author

• Kristin N Haun, Univ of Tennessee, Knoxville