Skinny Models Make All Women Feel Worse, Regardless of Size, Study Shows

clipped from www.webmd.com March 28, 2007 -- Looking at picture-perfect and rail-thin models may make women feel worse about their own bodies, regardless of their size or shape. Previous studies have shown that images of skinny models negatively affect how overweight women and those with eating disorders view their own body image. But a new study suggests that all women are equally, and negatively, affected by looking at pictures of models in magazine ads for just three minutes. "Surprisingly, we found that weight was not a factor. Viewing these pictures was just bad for everyone," says researcher Laurie Mintz, associate professor of educational, school, and counseling psychology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, in a news release. It had been thought that women who are heavier feel worse than a thinner woman The study results do not support that theory." unrealistic images of women, who are often airbrushed or partially computer generated, have a detrimental impact on women and how they feel about themselves