Exploring body image perception among college students of northeast India: A comparative study between readers and nonreaders of fashion magazines

ABSTRACT Introduction: The pervasive promotion of the “ideal body image” concept through various media outlets, including print media, visuals, and social media, has been directly or indirectly inciting young people and fostering an unhealthy obsession with thinness. Consequently, achieving a “zero figure” has become a popular aspiration among females, while males strive for a sculpted physique featuring “six-pack abs,” a V-shaped figure, and well-developed biceps, chests, and shoulders. Aim and Objectives: To investigate the disparities in body image perception between readers and nonreaders of fashion magazines. Materials and Methods: The research design employed in the present study was a cross-sectional survey. The sample consisted of 443 male and female students between the ages of 18–21 years, hailing from Guwahati City, Assam. Results: Out of 443 college-bound students, this study found that 73.65% never read fashion magazines, while just 26.3% were avid readers. However, the study revealed that 21.7% of students occasionally read fashion magazines for <2 h per week, 3.4% for between 2 and 4 h, and only 1.4% for more than 4 h per week. Furthermore, students who read fashion magazines (mean rank = 255.27) substantially believed that “looks were important” in daily life compared to students who did not (mean rank = 210.06); (Mann–Whitney U = 15178.00, z = −3.281, P = 0.001), the group difference was significant. A greater number of students who read fashion magazines (mean rank = 251.96) exhibited higher overweight obsession, fat anxiety, and weight vigilance than another set of students who did not (mean rank = 211.25), (Mann–Whitney U = 15566.00, z = −2.963, P = 0.003). Conclusion: The findings of the present study can offer important new perspectives on the potential consequences for the younger generation of fashion magazines’ promotion of thin ideals. It emphasizes how being exposed to these ideas could have a significant detrimental effect, resulting in conditions such as depression, eating disorders, and low self-esteem that can develop as a result of comparing one’s body to the ideals others have for it.