Abstract
Introduction
Adolescence is a period marked by physical, behavioral, and psychosocial changes and by transformations related to the formation of the self-image.
Objective
To verify the relation between media and eating choices in body image and the possible development of eating disorders in adolescents. Specifically the aim was to identify how patterns exposed by the media influence the construction of adolescent’s body image and how this relation can modify the eating choices and make them more vulnerable to eating disorders.
Method
literature review of original scientific articles and review using the databases Medline, PubMed and SciELO in English and Portuguese, from 1992 to 2016. We included the publications that contained at least one of the descriptors used and that associated eating behavior with adolescents.
Results
The media, in the present days, exert great power in the construction of the corporal image and in the formation of esthetical standards, which affect the adolescents in their phase of vulnerability. To these characteristics and others related to age, young people end up changing their eating patterns, becoming potential risks for the development of eating disorders.
Conclusion
Adolescents are a risk group for the development of eating disorders and media is a contributing factor in dysfunctional eating behavior.
Keywords:
Adolescent; Feeding Behavior; Body Image; Video-audio Media