Photoshopping is used in ads and on magazine covers to make models more “beautiful,” which often means “skinnier.” The American Medical Association says the practice needs to get reined in. “Exposure to media-propagated images of unrealistic body images” has been linked to “eating disorders and other child and adolescent health problems,” the group said in a press release. The group wants advertisers to adopt policies that would curtail altering photographs that lead to “models with body types only attainable with the help of photo editing software.”

The group cited an example that sounded an awful lot like that horrible Ralph Lauren ad back in 2009 where the model’s body had been pinched to a grossly teeny-tiny degree. “The appearance of advertisements with extremely altered models can create unrealistic expectations of appropriate body image. In one image, a model’s waist was slimmed so severely, her head appeared to be wider than her waist,” said Dr. McAneny.

I don’t know if you can directly link Photoshop to eating disorders but seeing ads like the Ralph Lauren one definitely make me lose my appetite.

AMA Adopts New Policies at Annual Meeting [AMA-ASSN.org]

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