Twitter, Pinterest rife with images of extremely thin women

Some of the most popular social media sites, such as Twitter, are filled with images of extremely thin women that may have negative effects on females who view them, a new study has found.
Researchers from the University of California, Davis examined about 300 photographs from Twitter and Pinterest postings that used the terms "thinspiration" and/or "thinspo" to tag images and ideas promoting extreme thinness and often casting eating disorders in a positive light.
"Imagine a teenage girl or even a young woman looking for inspiration using terms such as 'attractive,' 'fit,' or 'pretty,'" said doctoral candidate Jannath Ghaznavi in the Department of Communication.

"She will likely find images of headless, scantily clad, sexualised women and their body parts," Ghaznavi said.
Images from Twitter, popular among younger audiences, were most likely to be cropped to remove heads and focus on specific body parts compared to Pinterest, according to the study.
The research cannot speak to the effects of viewing the images, the scientists conceded, but they pointed to studies that have shown repeated exposure to such content can result in body dissatisfaction and disordered eating attitudes.

"A young woman looking at these image may think that's what she should look like," Ghaznavi said.
"That could prompt these girls and women to resort to extreme dieting, excessive exercise or other harmful behaviours in order to achieve this thin ideal," Ghaznavi said.

The study was published in Body An International Journal of Research.