Background to the study

Becker et al. (2002) conducted a study in Fiji, a Pacific island nation where traditional cultural values have historically favoured fuller body shapes and robust appetites. These values saw larger bodies as attractive and suitable for roles like child-bearing and child-rearing. However, the introduction of western television in 1995 brought new influences, such as slim body ideals portrayed in media. Disordered eating was rare in Fiji before this. The study explored how exposure to these western media images might change attitudes towards body image and eating among adolescent girls in this media-naive population.

Aims of the study

The researchers aimed to investigate the effects of western television on a population where such media was newly introduced. They focused on ethnic Fijian adolescent girls, as this group had little prior exposure to western ideals of thinness.

Key research questions

• Has exposure to western television encouraged disordered eating behaviours, even though local Fijian traditions have long supported fuller body shapes and healthy appetites?
• Is disordered eating in Fiji linked to body dissatisfaction, similar to patterns observed in western cultures?

Participants

The study involved 128 ethnic Fijian adolescent girls, all fluent in English, with a mean (average) age of about 17 years. This sample was divided into two groups based on the timing of television introduction in Nadroga, Fiji:

Two groups based on television exposure:

• 1995 group: 63 girls, surveyed just one month after television arrived.
• 1998 group: 65 girls, surveyed after three years of television broadcasts.

Written informed consent was obtained from both the girls and their parents.

Procedure

Key steps in the procedure

1. Questionnaire administration: Both groups completed a modified version of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), a 26-item questionnaire widely used across cultures. It included questions on behaviours like bingeing and purging. Scores of 20 or above indicated high risk, often linked to dieting or self-induced vomiting. No translation was needed since all participants spoke English fluently.
2. Additional measures in 1998: The later group answered extra survey questions about body image, dieting, and differences between their views and their parents' traditional attitudes on diet and weight. Examples included: "How important is it to you to weigh what you would like to weigh?", "Would it bother you if you were too thin?", and "Would it bother you if you were too heavy?"
3. Data collection: Quantitative data were gathered from both groups. In 1998, qualitative data were also collected.

Results

The study produced both quantitative and qualitative results, showing clear shifts in attitudes towards body image and eating behaviours after three years of television exposure.

Quantitative results

Additionally, 83% of the 1998 participants said television had influenced them or their friends to change their body shape or weight, and 77% reported it had affected their own body image.

Qualitative results

Participant comments showing television's influence:

• "I just want to be slim because the TV characters are slim."
• "Viewing affects me because sometimes I feel fat."
• "I want to be like Cindy Crawford. I want to be like that ... very tall."

Conclusions

The study concluded that exposure to western television had a significant impact on Fijian adolescent girls, leading to increased disordered eating and body dissatisfaction. In just three years, attitudes shifted from traditional values – where fuller bodies were prized for their natural femininity and suitability for family roles – to western-style obsessions with thinness and weight control. This change mirrored patterns in western teenagers affected by conditions like anorexia, where "being thin" became a priority over simply "being."