Influence of the Media

I cannot tell you how often young men and women sit in my office and tell me how hard it is to accept the goals and direction that I am giving them towards health, when they have to see and hear completely opposite information on TV, in magazines, on the radio, everywhere.

The influence that the media has over our minds is incredible, and lately very dangerous. The average American watches about 4 hours of TV per day (about 28 hours per week or a nonstop 2 months per year) compared to the average 3.5 minutes parents spend in meaningful conversation with their child. Wait, what?! Let me repeat that:

The average time an American watches TV per DAY: 4 HOURS

The average time an American parent spends in
meaningful conversation with their child per WEEK: 3.5 MINUTES.

Wow. We have some work to do.

We are subjected to a lot of media including television, magazines, internet and radio. There are shows about people who are too skinny, too fat, addicted, wanna-be models, wanna-be body builders, etc. And when those shows cut to commercial we see ads for diet pills (you know how I feel about those), diet food, makeup, clothes, hair, exercise equipment, and on and on and on…

The funny thing is, that no matter how smart you think you are, how confident, how “above others influences”, there are things in the media that will actually make you think twice about something you already know. The way information is presented, with tiny bits of science blown so out of proportion it’s insane, can actually get your brain thinking it’s true. How many people have heard of “The Blood Type Diet” or “The Lemonade Cleanse” or “Acai Berry” juice, pills, etc. I have been asked about all of these and many more by people who are in the health and fitness field and by those who aren’t. My point is that its very hard to sift through all this information when we don’t know who or what is actually credible. More on that topic in another post.

What concerns me is the youth, whose minds are still very impressionable and quick to jump to conclusions about themselves and their own bodies, which in turn severely impacts self-esteem and confidence. Let me show you what I mean:

The Dove Campaign is absolutely fantastic and I applaud Dove for stepping up and taking on the responsibility of showing young girls positive role models. The statistics of dieting and eating disorders among young girls is horrific and it gives me goosebumps just thinking about how staggering the numbers are. As adults, we all have a responsibility to set an example for our children, friends, peers, acquaintances and yes, even strangers. Accepting and loving yourself just the way you are can sometimes seem hard to do, but think about why its hard. Is it because you don’t look like the lingerie model on the billboard? Well if you watched that video you should know that model doesn’t look like that either.

God created each and every one of us the way we are for a specific reason. We are all not meant to look the same! Now, if you’ve not treated your body well, and it has morphed into something you don’t recognize, then you can work to get back the body God intended for you (my friend Paula calls it her “inheritance weight”). Being happy and healthy is what matters, not your pant size or a number on the scale.

Take today to walk with your head held high, and a smile on your face. The way you carry yourself on a daily basis has more influence over someone’s impression of you than the way you look. No matter what you might think. Do this in your own life and it may rub off on a child or a teenager you didn’t know was watching.

Blessings,

Ashley