WIN Wyoming and WIN the Rockies

Thought Bullets
for 
September 2003

Body Size Portrayal and Television

The Rudd Institute funded a research project to look at how different body types are portrayed on television. The study looked at 1018 major television characters on the 10 top-rated fictional series for the networks of ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, UPN and WB during the 1999-2000 season. At least five episodes were analyzed for each series. Researchers measured the body type of major characters by examining their silhouettes. Results of the study appeared in the August 2003 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. I want to thank Carol Peterson, from the Wyoming Department of Health, for sending me the article.

• The Rudd Institute’s mission is to "document, understand, and ameliorate the bias, stigma, and discrimination associated with obesity." The Institute’s motto is to "see the person, not the pounds." The Institute is also involved in the training of medical and health professionals to be more aware of obesity bias. For more information on the Rudd Institute, visit their website at http://www.ruddinstitute.org/institute.asp.
• Only 3 percent of the major television female characters studied were obese, but one-third of the females were underweight. In the adult female population in the United States, approximately one in four is obese, and one in 20 is underweight. "The sheer difference between the types of bodies that can be found on TV and those found in our population was staggering to me," says Ken Lachlan, co-author of the article. "I expected that the results might be in that direction, but I never thought the difference would be that dramatic."
• The difference in body size between television characters and the general population was not as dramatic for males. Twenty-seven percent of males on TV were overweight, compared to 59 percent of males being overweight in the general population.
• Lack of body size diversity on television was not the only finding from the study. The study also found that larger characters on TV were more likely to be portrayed as the object of some kind of joke, as socially incompetent, or as totally irrelevant to the events taking place. Larger women were almost twice as likely to be the target of jokes as the thinner women. The greatest amount of ridicule in the shows analyzed was aimed toward the thinness male characters.
• The researchers concluded that overweight and obese characters were more likely to be associated with negative characteristics. For example, overweight and obese females were less likely to be considered attractive, and overweight and obese males were more likely to be shown overeating.
• There are no rules or laws that state commercial television must be representative of the American population. However, outside forces have pressured the television industry into portraying certain groups in a more positive manner. Gender and racial portrayals have received the most emphasis in previous research studies, but studies like this one may pressure the television industry into portraying large individuals in a more positive manner.

Sources:
Dotings R. Overweight TV characters have image problem. HealthDay. August 11, 2003. Available at http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=514553. Accessed August 15, 2003.

Greenberg BS, Eastin M, Hofschire L, Lachlan K, and Brownell KD. Portrayals of overweight and obese individuals on commercial television. American Journal of Public Health. 2003;93: 1342-1348.

The Rudd Institute. Available at http://www.ruddinstitute.org/institute.asp. Accessed August 15, 2003.

Compiled by Betty Holmes, MS, RD, Regional Project Coordinator, WIN the Rockies;  bholmes@uwyo.edu

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