Must-see TV or ESPN: Entertainment and sports media exposure and body-image distortion in college women

Many studies offer clear evidence that exposure to TDP (thinness depicting and promoting) media leads to distorted body-image perceptions in school-age females and college women. This study investigated women's exposure to two types of media-entertainment and sports media-and looked for possible associations with body-image distortion and eating disorders. College women were surveyed in the fall of 2001 and asked to report exposure to 40 programs airing on prime-time networks and report exposure to specific men's and women's spoils. Exposure to "thin-ideal" television was a significant predictor of four dimensions of disordered eating for women of all races. However, women's exposure to sports media was not a significant predictor of lower degrees of disordered eating.