What makes women buy magazines that promote 'unrealistic' body images

Scientists have finally shed light on why women buy magazines that glamorize super-thin models that would seem to taunt normal-sized women.

According to the study, some readers, rather than comparing themselves unhappily with the thin models, may derive "thinspiration": the belief that they can make themselves look just as attractive as the models they see in these magazines.

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, author of the study and professor of communication at The Ohio State University, said that this is not any kind of positive inspiration, as women get the message that they can look just like the models they see in the magazines, which is not helpful and makes them feel better at first, but in the long run women are buying into these thinness fantasies that just won't come true.

Results showed that women who simply evaluated themselves compared to the models showed lower body satisfaction by the end of the study. They were also more likely to say they dieted during the last five days.

The study was published online in the journal Health Communication.