It doesn’t matter whether you’re thin or plump, blonde or brunette, tall or petite, every woman is likely to have bad feelings about her body after viewing photos of models in magazines.

A study conducted at the University of Missouri surveyed women on their feelings about themselves, their bodies, hair, weight, etc. One group of women then looked at neutral images and a second group viewed models in magazine ads. The women’s attitudes towards their own bodies were measured again after viewing the images. The women who viewed images of models experienced a drop in their level of satisfaction with their own bodies.

The assumption that only overweight women would be less satisfied with their own bodies was incorrect. All women, regardless of weight experienced an impact in self-image after viewing the magazine models.

Because these images are often computer-enhanced, partially computer-generated and have all imperfections air-brushed out, it is not surprising that no woman feels she comes up to the standards of beauty that are held up by the media.

The study – “Predictors of Media Effects on Body Dissatisfaction in European American Women” – was published in this month’s Sex Roles: A Journal of Research.

Women of All Sizes Feel Badly about their Bodies after Seeing Models

The stuff those scientists get up to over at MIT is amazing. Researchers at MIT Sloan School of Management and Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford have found a way to predict what someone will purchase by using functional MRI to show which brain regions are being activated when they view products and prices. This is a blockbuster study in the emerging field of neuroeconomics (I bet you didn’t even know there was such an emerging field).

…by studying which regions were activated, the authors were able to successfully predict whether the study participants would decide to purchase each item. Activations of the regions associated with product preference and with weighing gains and losses indicated that a person would decide to purchase a product. In contrast, when the region associated with excessive prices was activated participants chose not to buy a product.

Of course, this research seems mainly to deal with helping us understand what motivates us to buy and probably will help retailers overcome the brain bits that are responsible for our frugality. But what if instead of neuroeconomics they turned this technology to dieting?

Imagine, scientists map out the part of the brain responsible for eating chocolate cake and set up transmitters that could alert a main system that your brain is making your mouth water. Immediately, receptors implanted in the part of the brain that are responsible for willpower are activated, so that when your salivating mouth opens to consume the chocolate cake, instead it voices a resounding “No!, No!, No!”. Within just a few weeks you would be able to activate the part of your brain that wanted to buy those leather pants.

I guess science isn’t ready to deal with important issues like that yet.

Researchers use brain scans to predict when people will buy products

There was a time when domestic wines were not so highly regarded and an “imported” wine usually meant French or German. Nowadays it is just as likely to mean wine from Australia or South Africa.

And the same is happening in Europe where winemakers in EU countries are losing customers to wines imported from Australia, South Africa and the US. The blame is being put on the intricate and detailed labelling of wines, which can be confusing to consumers.

“The consumer decides what is taken down the shelves in the supermarkets. The consumer wants simple, clear labeling,” EU Farm Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said after meeting with farm ministers from the 25 EU member nations to discuss reforming Europe’s wine sector.

“When you look at the success of the new-world wines, some of them specifically use the labeling ‘Chardonnay,’ ‘Sauvignon,’ and people don’t ask for anything, but ‘let me get a glass or a bottle of Sauvignon,” she said.

Clear simple labeling? You have to be a nutrition expert to figure out how many cookies you can eat.

Spain has certainly caused a stir in the fashion world with its ban on too-thin models in an upcoming fashion show in Madrid. You can read about it in my article on this blog. New reports indicate that up to 30% of models were eliminated based on their low BMI scores.

What I found didn’t get much press was the untimely and sad death of a 22 year old Uruguayan model, briefly mentioned in a news article about the Spanish boycott. Luisel Ramos, who had been advised she could really make it big as a model if she only dropped some weight, reportedly starved herself for a period of up to two weeks prior to a show and suffered heart failure after stepping off the runway in Montevideo on August 2, 2006. Medical personnel called to the scene were unable to revive her. Her father told police she had eaten only leafy vegetables and Coke for weeks prior to the fashion show appearance.

I tried to find more on this sad story but nearly every article I found was either on a blog or on a South American website. I found one in German and another from Vietnam. I don’t speak either German or Vietnamese so I had to rely on the Spanish sites and the English language blogs for information. But why didn’t this story get more media attention?

I don’t know the answer to that. I do hope that the recent decisions by the regional government in Madrid are part of a new trend. Despite the constant media barrage of ultra-thin female images, there is little said about the dangers of being too thin and besides, young teens aren’t going to listen. The only way to prevent a tragedy like Luisel Ramos is to show them. Give them positive body images to emulate in fashion and entertainment. That can only happen if we stop rewarding the perpetrators. When we stop pulling out our checkbooks and wallets, they will get the message.