Background
Over the last two decades, body dissatisfaction appears to have increased globally, particularly concerns about being “fat”. These increasingly negative large-body norms reflect the intersections of complex socio-cultural phenomena. A range of anthropological theories derived from ethnographic observations across the globe have posited that both changing socioeconomics and internet exposures have increasingly commodified the value of the body in social advancement – especially for women.
Methods
Using demographic data, here we provide a first attempt to explore the sheer effects of individual (i.e., age) and contextual factors (i.e., period and cohort) on body dissatisfaction by using the Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort (HAPC-CCREM) approach, with a particular emphasis on period effects of internet expansion and macro-economic shifts. The data are drawn from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) collected repeatedly over the period of 2001 to 2017.
Results
The results show a higher level of body dissatisfaction among Korean women compared to men. Overall period effects indicate a significant increase in the level of body dissatisfaction in the early 2000s, particularly related to increased social media exposure. Although no overall cohort effect was found, early cohorts tend to have a substantial gap in body dissatisfaction levels when examined by socioeconomic status: those with high SES (people with college education and high household income) exhibit a high level of body dissatisfaction and those with low SES exhibit a low level of body dissatisfaction, but over time these begin to converge.
Conclusions
The results suggest a particular role for internet exposure, rather than labor market shifts, in increasing negative classifications of the person’s own body as unacceptably big.
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Posted 18 Aug, 2020
Posted 18 Aug, 2020
Background
Over the last two decades, body dissatisfaction appears to have increased globally, particularly concerns about being “fat”. These increasingly negative large-body norms reflect the intersections of complex socio-cultural phenomena. A range of anthropological theories derived from ethnographic observations across the globe have posited that both changing socioeconomics and internet exposures have increasingly commodified the value of the body in social advancement – especially for women.
Methods
Using demographic data, here we provide a first attempt to explore the sheer effects of individual (i.e., age) and contextual factors (i.e., period and cohort) on body dissatisfaction by using the Hierarchical Age-Period-Cohort (HAPC-CCREM) approach, with a particular emphasis on period effects of internet expansion and macro-economic shifts. The data are drawn from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) collected repeatedly over the period of 2001 to 2017.
Results
The results show a higher level of body dissatisfaction among Korean women compared to men. Overall period effects indicate a significant increase in the level of body dissatisfaction in the early 2000s, particularly related to increased social media exposure. Although no overall cohort effect was found, early cohorts tend to have a substantial gap in body dissatisfaction levels when examined by socioeconomic status: those with high SES (people with college education and high household income) exhibit a high level of body dissatisfaction and those with low SES exhibit a low level of body dissatisfaction, but over time these begin to converge.
Conclusions
The results suggest a particular role for internet exposure, rather than labor market shifts, in increasing negative classifications of the person’s own body as unacceptably big.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
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