The study in this report involved a 14-year-old adolescent female who was 5-feet 2-inches and weighed 132 pounds; she was given a challenge to walk for exercise and use an exercise machine at home -- and in turn she agreed to cut back on television and other media usage. The bottom line was, she lost weight, but moreover, one year after the study she was increasing the level of physical activity she had been given at the outset of the study.

Evidence is presented in an article titled "Body Dissatisfaction and Patterns of Media Use Among Preadolescent Children" that boys and girls determine to some degree how their bodies should look from watching television. The authors' empirical research indicates that "body dissatisfaction and concern with weight" actually develop before a child reaches age 7 in Western societies (Jung, et al., 2007, p. 40). The alert researcher can see from the...
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