FACTS

Researcher Gregory Fouts has found that underweight women are over-represented on TV sitcoms; only 5 per cent of women on sitcoms are overweight.

A study of TV comedies aimed specifically at children found that first, African-Americans were significantly more likely to be represented as being overweight than white characters; and second, one in four overweight characters was portrayed as being unpopular or as having no friends.
Robinson T, Callister M, Jankoski T. Portrayal of body weight on children's television sitcoms: a content analysis. Body Image. 2008;5: 141-151.
A 2011 study revealed that 80.8% of women experience body dissatisfaction overall, causing them to show a higher interest in having cosmetic surgery.
Lawler, M., & Nixon, E. (2011). Body dissatisfaction among adolescent boys and girls: The effects of body mass, peer appearance culture and internalization of appearance ideals. Journal Of Youth And Adolescence, 40(1), 59-71.
A 2008 study found that female characters in G-rated animated films were actually more likely to have thin waists and large chests than their counterparts in live-action films - even when compared to characters in R-rated movies.
Stacy L. Smith and Crystal Allene Cook, "Gender Stereotypes: An Analysis of Popular Films and TV" (Los Angeles: Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media)
A meta-study of programs that have been designed to help youth deal with body image and eating disorders has shown that media literacy programs are one of the most successful strategies for dealing with these issues
Levine, M (2016) Media Literacy as an effective and promising form of Eating Disorders prevention. Eating Disorders Resource Catalogue. Retrieved from https://www.edcatalogue.com/media-literacy-as-an-effective-and-promising-form-of-eating-disorders-prevention/
Studies have found that being able to think critically about techniques that are used to fabricate and make digitally manipulated photos has been found to be associated with positive body image
McLean et al. (2016) Does Media Literacy Mitigate Risk for Reduced Body Satisfaction Following Exposure to Thin-Ideal Media? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45 (8). 1678 - 1695.