Becker et al (2002)

• Aim: investigate eating behaviour and attitudes followed by prolonged exposure to tv among fijian adolescents girls
• Fijian culture : robust body / large appetite

  dieting discouraged
• Procedure : cross sectional study and natural experiment

  • 63 17 year old girls in 1995
  • 65 17 year old girls in 1998
  • 1995 - 1998 tv was widely introduces
• Procedure : independent group design

  EAT - 26 Questionnaire completed

  interviewed at home with translator

  participant weight + height measures
• Quantitive findings

  tv ownership - increased by 28.5%

  vomiting - increased from 0 - 10%

  EAT - 26 score increased from 12.7% to 29.2%
• Qualitative findings

  characters on tv - influence behaviour

  83% felt or changed body shape

  77% tv influence there body image

  tv models something to emulate = purging behaviour
• Strengths of Becker

  • strength of qualitative, quantitative both confirm effects of tv data triangulation — tv source of eating attitudes
  • good reliability of findings - Becker similar finding to furnham and Husain - media effects body image across different context and cultures
• Weaknesses of Becker

  • Unrepresentative sample - hard to generalise to western culture , American culture prominent in this culture
  • COUNTERPOINT TO BECKER - findings might not be valid
  • EAT - 26 score not formal diagnosis of eating disorders