title: Weighing women down: messages on weight loss and body shaping in editorial content in popular women's health and fitness magazines.
abstract: Exposure to idealized body images has been shown to lower women's body satisfaction. Yet some studies found the opposite, possibly because real-life media (as opposed to image-only stimuli) often embed such imagery in messages that suggest thinness is attainable. Drawing on social cognitive theory, the current content analysis investigated editorial body-shaping and weight-loss messages in popular women's health and fitness magazines. About five thousand magazine pages published in top-selling U.S. women's health and fitness magazines in 2010 were examined. The findings suggest that body shaping and weight loss are a major topic in these magazines, contributing to roughly one-fifth of all editorial content. Assessing standards of motivation and conduct, as well as behaviors promoted by the messages, the findings reflect overemphasis on appearance over health and on exercise-related behaviors over caloric reduction behaviors and the combination of both behaviors. These accentuations are at odds with public health recommendations.
authors.affiliation: a School of Communication , Ohio State University.
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knobloch-Westerwick
mesh_terms: D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D035081:Editorial Policies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D020377:Self Efficacy; D066269:Social Theory; D015431:Weight Loss; D016387:Women's Health