Skip to content Skip to navigation menu 21 June 2010 Teenagers
who read gossip magazines are more likely to engage in eating
disorder behaviours, according to new research from the School
of Medicine. Conducted by Dr James White from the Department of
Primary Care & Public Health, the study took place over six
months, and involved 546 eleven to sixteen year old children
from South Wales. The research was carried out in collaboration
with Dr Emma Halliwell from the University of the West of
England. Adolescents were asked to record changes in their
behaviours that are common to eating disorders, such as binge
eating, self-induced vomiting and dieting. They were also asked
how often they view different types of television programmes
(soaps, music videos, sports, drama series, reality TV) and
magazines (women’s fashion, health and fitness, men’s magazines,
gossip magazines). After six months, the television and magazine
viewing habits of teenagers who had increased their use of
eating disorder behaviours were co