Many studies report a connection between parents' attitude toward dieting and children's behavior, and it will come to absolutely no one's surprise that most kids (even as young as five) hold the same beliefs about food restriction as their mothers. Perhaps more surprising is that the media seems to hold an even greater influence than a child's family. In nearly all studies regarding children and body image, test subjects list television, film, and video-game characters as the physical standards to which they aspire. It's easy to see why. Another study, in 2000, surveyed top children's movies, reporting that "72% associated thinness with
positive character traits such as kindness, and
three out of four videos equated obesity with undesirable
qualities."
Last week, a new study from Common Sense Media made headlines by reporting that 80% of 10-year-old girls have been on a diet. Furthermore, this "horrifying new research" found that more than half of girls and one-third of boys ages six to eight want thinner bodies. Indeed, these statistics are horrifying, but they are far from new.
In 1970, the average age a girl began dieting was 14, according to The Eating Disorder Foundation. By 1990, that age had dropped to eight. Twenty-five years later, the numbers haven't significantly changed. Each new study on children, dieting, and body image reveals only more appalling details. In 1991, 42% of first-through-third-grade girls reported wanting to be thinner. That same year, a study found that 51% of of nine- and 10-year-old girls felt better about themselves while dieting.