Body Weight of Cartoon Characters in Children Series Is Associated to Food Consumption, Attractiveness, and Physical Act
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Body Weight of Cartoon Characters in Children Series Is Associated to Food Consumption, Attractiveness, and Physical Activity Engagement Milia Tzoutzou 1 & Eirini Bathrellou 1 & Antonia-Leda Matalas 1
# International Society of Behavioral Medicine 2020
Abstract Background Research is lacking regarding the eating habits of cartoon characters in relation to their body weight. The present study explored the context of food consumption and the cartoon characters’ traits, according to body weight. Studies show that slim cartoon characters are usually considered as attractive; however, little is known regarding the type of messages projected about their physical appearance. Method One hundred episodes of ten series with high TV audience rates were reviewed. Characters’ body weight status was classified into underweight, normal weight, and overweight, and food consumed as processed and less processed. Characters’ traits such as physical activity and attractiveness were classified as positive, negative, or neutral. Comments made by the characters themselves regarding their proper physical appearance or the appearance of partner characters were recorded and classified as positive or negative. Results Results show that characters’ body weight was related to both type and quantity of foods consumed, as 58% of the noncore and 48% of all foods were actually eaten by oversized characters. Positive characters’ traits, as defined by attractiveness and physical activity engagement, referred consistently to slim characters, with nine out of ten shown as good-looking and physically active. In addition, the majority (51 out of 58) of the positive comments on physical appearance were recorded for slim and attractive characters, either expressed by fellow actors or the characters themselves. Conclusion Body weight of cartoon characters seems to follow stereotypic perceptions which value slimness and relate unhealthy food consumption with overweight. Keywords Television . Children’s TV programming . Cartoon characters . Body weight . Food consumption . Non-core foods . Physical appearance
Introduction Mass media entertainment programs act as transmitters of a mass information culture, both adults and children being
* Milia Tzoutzou [email protected] Eirini Bathrellou [email protected] Antonia-Leda Matalas [email protected] 1
Laboratory of Nutrition and Dietetics, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Elefteriou Venizelou 70, 176 76 Kallithea, Athens, Greece
receptors of the messages they promote. According to social learning theory, people learn through imitating prototypical behaviors both from figures in the real world and from fictional figures on film and on television [1]. Perceptions of the beautiful and the desirable can be influenced by entertainment media. Messages concerning body image projected through television, films, and magazines promote the ideal of the slim body shape and the desire to achieve it. Being overweight can thus be stigmatized. A slim body in women and muscular
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