Overweight Children and the Media

Childhood obesity is prevalent at epidemic proportions. According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, national rates of overweight in the United States have tripled in adolescents and more than doubled in children aged 6–11 since 1980. Simultaneously, media targeting children have dramatically increased, leading the average child living in the United States to consume up to six hours of media per day. Given the rise of childhood obesity coupled with the extensive amount of time children are exposed to [Page 576]media messages, the purpose of this entry is (1) to examine the messages promoted by mainstream American media about overweight children and (2) to evaluate the influence of exposure to these messages on the psychological health of children.

Media Messages about Obese Children

The term media describes the various types of public communication that convey information to large audiences through mediums such as newspapers, magazines, direct mail, billboards, bus signs, radio, television, and the Internet. Mainstream American society exposes children to endless amounts of media, particularly through television programs, video games, internet sites, and movies. For example, the average child in the United States views 10,000 advertisements a year. Of those aimed at children, more than 90 percent are for candy, fast food, soft drinks, and cereal.

These media present specific information about weight, food, and appearance. While children are bombarded with advertisements for unhealthy foods high in sugar and caloric density, they are simultaneously bombarded by images of idealized boys and girls. The ideal female has flawless skin, flowing hair, a thin waist, light-colored eyes, and long legs, whereas the ideal male is muscular, fit, tall, and lean. Given these physical ideals, it is not surprising that the media rarely contains images of overweight children.

Overall, the media broadcasts very negative messages about being overweight or obese.

Fatness is negatively stigmatizes to the degree that obesity stigma has been referred to by some scholars as the last socially acceptable form of discrimination in the United States. Negative stereotypes about overweight people are prevalent in children's television shows, movies, and literature. For example, in the Harry Potter series, the overweight Dudley is portrayed as greedy, mean, lazy, and piggish. In Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the only overweight child is depicted as greedy and is the first child disqualified in the con test because he is too preoccupied with food to stop from gorging himself and listen to the adults. Jake Harper from the television show Two and a Half Men is constantly preoccupied with food and the object of ridicule about his low intelligence.

Literature for children under age 6 also contains negative attributions about being overweight. In The Hungry Pig, the main character sneaks around and cheats to eat more food. In Mr. Greedy, children learn that the overweight main character loves to eat and learns not to be greedy as he loses weight. Some even critique Disney for its stereotypical cartoon renderings of overweight people as stupid and lazy.

Influence of Media Portrayals on Obese Children

The messages about obese children perpetuated by Western media can detrimentally influence children's beliefs, feelings, and attitudes about overweight individuals and themselves. There has been an increase in negative stereotyping of overweight children by other children in the last few decades. For example, in 2003, children rated drawings of overweight children as being less likable than had children of the same age in the 1960s. Overweight children and adults are often described in negative terms and believed to have negative characteristics such as being lazy, sloppy, dirty, naughty, cheats, liars, argues, mean, ugly, stupid, and perpetually focused on food. Negative attributions about overweight people begin as young as age 3 and get stronger with age.

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