Association of thin-ideal media exposure, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors among adolescents in Taiwan

Objective: The present study examined the relationships between thin-ideal media exposure, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating behaviors among adolescents in Taiwan. Method: A total of 2992 students in the 10th grade were recruited from 26 high schools in Taipei, Taiwan to complete a questionnaire in 2010. Results: The results showed that the adolescents were exposed to thin-ideal messages a few times a week. Females had higher levels of thin-ideal media exposure, media pressure to be thin, thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating behaviors than males. Multivariate logistic regression results indicated that media pressure and thin-deal internalization significantly increased the likelihood of body dissatisfaction, while media pressure and body dissatisfaction contributed to both restrained eating and unhealthy weight control behaviors, when all other variables were controlled for.