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ORIGINALARTICLE

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Key words:Animate d c arto ons, mediacontent, body weight,portrayals, messages.

Correspondence to:HughKein, Ph.D.Ken singlon Research Instrtute401 Schuyler RoadSrlver Spnng, MD 20910, USAE-mail: hughk@aol.com

Received: March 30, 2004Accepted: September 23, 2004

r INTRODUCTION

Research examining how body weight isdep ic ted in the mass med ia has shownrepeatedly that the media portray whatmany authors have termed a "thin standard"or a " thin ideal", that is, a tendency toemphasize the importance of one's weight,to show underweight persons or charactersin far greater numbers (or in the alternative,higNy-muscularized males) than their nor-mal-weight or overweight counterparts, andto porrray the former in a much more flatter-ing manner than the latter (1-4). This hasbeen true regardless of whether the mediumi n q u e s t i o n i s s o a p o p e r a s , m a g a z i n e s ,advertisements, or prime-time televisionprogramming. Recent studies suggest thatsuch messages have become more prevalentover time and that today, more than everbefore, the media provide highly-unrealis-tic-some would even say highly-unattain-ab le -por t raya ls o f body we igh t (4 ) .Moreover, researchers have also demon-strated that many persons internalize the"thin ideal" or the "thin standard" propagat-ed by the media, and that people who do thisare prone to developing eating disorders (5).

Recent studies based on a closer, qualita-tive examination of weight-related content inthe media have been more infrequent buthave, nonetheless, appeared in the scholarlyliterature. Fouts et aL (6), for example, studiedhow male characters were shoum in prime-t ime te lev is ion s i tua t ion comedies . T f revreported that overweight males were underlrepresented in these programs compared totheir numbers in the general population andthat being overweight was a subject for self-deprecating comedic jokes among such char-acters. In a companion piece to this research,Fouts et al. (7) examined how female charac-ters were porlrayed in the same type of pro-gramming. They found that underweightfemales were overrepresented and that nega-t ive comments were made about thosefemales whose weight was considered unac-ceptably-high. In a study of male fashionmagazine content, Petrie et al. (3) noted that,over the years, there has been a consistentpresentation of an ideal male body, repre-sented by messages regarding fib:.ess, mass,and overall attractiveness, In their study ofadvertisements in women's magazines, Prattet al. (B) also noted the high prevalence ofmessages about maintaining an idealized

Vol. lO: lo7-l 16, June 2OO5

Thin is "in" and stout is "out":\\'hat animated cartoons tell viewersabout body weight

H. Klein*. and K.S. Shiffman**rKel\gington Rqsearch hstitute, Silver Spring, and **Cable News Network, Atlanta, USA

ABSTRACT . Relying upon a content analysis of one speafic Spe of medium to which yorng peo-ple are exposed beginnng at an early age, on a regular basis, and for many years (i.e., arumatedcaftoons), the present study examines what gpes of messages are provided about being under-weight, overweight and normal weight. This research examines the following rssues: (1) Howprevalent is weight-related content in animated cartoons? (2) Has tlls prevalence changed overtime? (3) What "Wes" of charactenstics tend to be associatedwithbeing thinner-than-normal orheavier-than normal? Results indicate that the prevalence of both underweight and overweightcharacters has changed dramafrcally over the course of the past several decades. These relation-shtps are both curvilinear in nature, but in recent decades have demonstrated a significantincrease in the proportion of all cartoons showing characters that are underweight and a simulta-neous decrease in the prevalence of characters that are overweight. Many variables were found todiffer based on cartoon characters'body weighl including gender, age, intelligence, physicalaltractiveness, emotional states experienced, prosocialbehawors, antisocialbehaviors, and overallgoodness/badness. IMenever differences were fotnd, the overnding tendency was for cartoonsto provide positive messages aboutbeing thin and negative messages aboutbeing overweight.[hting Weight Disord 10: 107-116, 20051. a2gg5, Editrice Kurtis

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H. Klein. and K.S. Shiffman

weight and the importance of doing so throughweight-control strategies. Guillen et al. (9) alsodiscovered associations between weight loss andincreased physical attractiveness, as well as anemphasis on the value of thinness, in theirresearch on the content of magazines targetingadolescent girls. Similar findings were reportedby Andersen et al. (10) based on their analysis ofyoung adults' magazines.

Such messages about the importance of los-ing weight, the importance of being thin, andthe implied relationship between thinness andattractiveness are of concern because they pre-sent people with repeated messages aboutphys ica l l y and psycho log ica l l y unhea l thynotions of what one should or should not looklike. Over the years, a substantial body of litera-ture has accumulated to demonstrate thatexposure to the media has a profound impactupon people's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors(77 , 72) . There a lso appears to be a dose-response effect operating, such that peoplewho have more exposure to the media aremore affected by what they see, hear, and readthan their peers who are exposed less signifi-cantly to media messages (12,73).

Conceptually, this makes perfect sense andthere is a substantial body of theoretical work inthe sociological, psychological and media stud-ies fields to account for - and to anticioate thepresence of - these types of effects. For example,social learning theory (14, 15) posits that peopleacquire their beliefs, attitudes, and propensity toengage in behaviors, directly based on first-hand experiences they have with others whoexhibit particular behaviors and/or indirectly,based on what they observe others - includingothers appearing in the mass media - doing orsaying. As Kunkel et al. (16) put it, "through theobservation of mass media models the observercomes to learn which behaviors are 'appropri-

ate' , that is, which behaviors wi l l later berewarded, and which wi l l be punished."Accordingly, social learning theory would pre-dict that people of all ages (and young people inparticular) will learn a great deal about bodyweight, social expectations for what is a "prop-er" body weight, the accepted or expected stepsthat can or should be taken to maintain that"appropriate" weight, and the social conse-quences of being overweight just from beingexposed to weight-related media content.

As another example, cultivation theory 07, 18)states that media viewers' perceptions of socialreality will be shaped by extensive and cumula-tive exposure to media-provided messages. Thistheoretical model assumes that people developbeliefs, attitudes, and expectations about the realworld based on what thev see and hear on televi-

sion, on video, in f i lm, in magazines, etc.Subsequently, they use the beliefs, attitudes, andexpectations they have developed to make deci-sions about how they will behave in real-worldsettings and situations. Agam, Kunkel et al. (16)put it well when they stated "The media, in partic-ular television, communicate facts, norms, andvalues about our social world. For many peopletelevision is the main source of information aboutcritical aspects of their social environment...Whether television shapes or merely maintainsbeliefs about the world is not as important as itsrole in a dynamic process that leadi to enduringand stable assumptions about the world." ln thecontext of the study of weight-related media con-tent, then, cultivation theory would posit thatmedia messages serve as agents of socializationregarding what to think about thinness, beingoverweighf and weight-related behaviors. Thiswould be particularly true for young viewerswho are exposed rather heavily to such mediamessages through the types of programmingthat they tend to view. Given the types of mes-sages that the media provide about body weighfcultivation theory would predict that the cumula-tive effect of exposure to these messages wouldprovide young people with beliefs and attitudesthat, ostensibly, reinforce the notions that thin-ness is appropriate and expected, that there arenumerous justifications for making sure thatone's weight is always under control, that therewill be social consequences to pay if one's weightdoes not conform to the media-promulgatedstandards, and so forth.

Taking these theoretical models'tenets andthe aforementioned research studies on mediaeffects to heart, the present study entails anexamination of body weight-related messages ina medium that, we contend, is likely to provideyoung people with some of their earliest notionsregarding body weight and weight-related stan-dards/expectations: animated cartoons. We havechosen animated cartoons as the focal point ofthis research for a few reasons. Firsf people areexposed to this ffie of medium beginning at anearly age. Therefore, weight-related messagesprovided by this particular medium are likel)'tobe influential in the initial stages of developingbeliefs and attitudes about thinness and obesitl'.Second, for most young people, this exposurecontinues for many years, and typically entailsrepeated and frequent media content exposuresduring that entire viewing period. Thus, animat-ed cartoons also help to crystallize young peo-ple's weight-related beliefs and attitudes, whilehelping to shape relevant behaviors through therepeated and consistent weight-related mes-sages they provide. Research has shown thatearly-life exposure to media messages does,

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*.. F;tino \d/eiohf Fli4or.l vol ! ar' N, ?- 2al.ic

indeed, affect the formation of attitudes andcontributes to the cr5-stailization of notionsabout a variety of aspects of young viewers'social worlds (19, 20).

In this study, u 'e address three pr incipalresearch quest ions. First , how prevalent isweight-related content in animated cartoons?Second, has th is p reva lence changed overtime? Third, what "types" of characteristicstend to be associated w'ith being thinner-than-normal or heavier-than-normal? We concludeby discussing the implications of our findingsand elaborating briefly upon some steps thatmight be taken in the future to provide viewerswith what we consider to be more-positive,less-stereotyped weight-reiated messages.

r i\IETHODS

Samfling strateryThis study is based on an examination of the

content of animated cartoons. For the presentstudy, only animated cel cartoons are includedin the sample (e .g . , Bugs Bunny, Popeye,Mighty Mouse, Yogi Bear). This el iminatesfrom the present study such types of animationas claymation (e.g., Gumby and Pokey, theCalifornia Raisins), piillation (the type of ani-mation usually seen at the end of The BennyHill Show), and puppet animation (e.9., Daveyand Goliath, George Pal's Puppetoons).

The cartoons chosen for the study samplewere selected randomly from among all car-toons produced betvveen the years 1930 and themid-1990s by all of the major animation studios.Before drawing the final sample of cartoons thatwould be viewed and coded for this work, theresearchers had to develop a comprehensiveand inclusive sample frame of cartoons pro-duced by the aforementioned animation studios.Published filmographies (27,22) provided theauthors with a great deal of this information,and in some instances, the animation studiosthemselves were contacted and asked to providecomprehensive episode-by-episode lists of ani-mated cartoons they had produced. Once the"universe" ofcartoons had been identified, actu-al copies of the specific cartoons selected forviewing and coding as part of the random sam-pling approach had to be located. This was donein a wide variety of ways: by contacting anima-tion fans and collectors and having them makecopies of some of their cartoons for us, visitingflIm archives and repositories and viewing car-toons in their libraries/holdings on site, obtain-ing copies of the needed cartoons directly fromthe animation studios, purchasing sample-selected items from retail outlets and private

Animated cartoons and bodY weight

sellers who advertised them in trade publica-tions, renting videocassettes from retail outletslike Blockbuster Video, and videotaping fromprograms broadcast on television.

The origination date for this research (1930)was chosen for four reasons: 1) many majoranimation studios had begun operations bythat time, 2) the era of silent cartoons had virtu-atly ended" 3) cartoons produced prior to 1930are not very accessible today, and 4) many car-toons produced during the 1930s are st i l lbroadcast on television and/or available forviewing on home video. Due to the fiscal con-straints of the funding program, only animatedcartoons with a total running time of 20 min-utes or less were included in the sample frame.

A stratifled (by decade of production) randomsampling procedure was used to ensure thatcartoons from all decades were representedequally in the study sample. This stratificationprocedure was necessary because very differentnumbers of cartoons have been produced dur-ing different decades (e.9., many more wereproduced during the 1980s than during the1930s), thereby leading to the risk that a generalrandom sample (as differentiated from thisstudy's stratified random sample) might have ledto an overrepresentation of certain decades dur-ing which greater- or lesser-than-average num-bers of heavy or thin characters were portrayed.

Data collectionThis study relied upon a content analysis

approach to examine the types of messages thatcartoons provide about body weight. Data col-lection for this research entailed viewing the car-toons contained on the project's sample list andrecording detailed information on predesigned,pretested, pilot tested, fixed-format codingsheets. Prior to beginning their viewing and cod-ing work for this study, research assistantsunderwent an intensive training that familiarizedthem with the data that the study strived to col-lect, the rationale underlying the coding of eachpiece of information, and the decision-makingprocedures that should be used when recordinginformation from each cartoon. To make surethat all people involved in the viewing/coding(i.e., data collection) process implemented thedecision-making procedures in a similar man-ner, intercoder reliability coeffrcients were calcu-lated periodical ly throughout the project.Reliability estimates consistently were above 0.80for all major measures, and were at least 0.90 forall of the variables used in the analyses reportedin this article, indicating a very high level ofintercoder reliability for this research.

To understand the information that this studycontains, it is best to conceptualize the database

Eating Weighl Disord., Vol. lo: N. 2- 2OO5 r09

H. Klein, and K.S. Shiffman

as consisting of two datasets. Dataset #1 focuses

o" 1tt. cart6on itself as the unit of analysis and

contains macro-level variables that provideprevalence-type information. Among severalbthers, this dataset includes such measures as

ttr. .uitoon's length; number of characters of

each gender, race, age, body weight group and

ro fofrit, number of times using or making refer-

ence to various legal and illegal drugs; and num-

U.. oi prosocial ind antisocial acts committed'itris aataset facilitates analyses indicating the

proportion of cartoons containing at,least one

underweight or overweight character, how.these

Droportio;s changed over time, or identifyingitr.iut. of seeing characters of different body

weight classificatibns per hour. The sample size

for this data set is 7,221.Dataset #2 focuses on the major characters in

each cartoon (regardless of whether they are

human characters, animals, personified inani-

male oflects [e.g., cars with the ability to gnowl

or aance, telephone poles given human-like abil-

ities to see or hear or singl, monsters, ghosts'

eici, pro"lOing detailed information that is of

value when tryrng to interpret the types.of mes-

sages that carioons provide about who it is that

i, itto*^ to be underweight, overweight or of a

normal weight. This dataset contalns lnlorma-

tion about each major character's gend-er, age'

race, ethnicity, maiital status, level of intelli-g..ti., attraciiveness, body weight, physique'

6ccupational status, Ievel of goodness or bad-

"ett, u"A other demographic-t1pe and descrip-

iiu" ittfot^ution. In aAaition, Dataset #2 contains

data about the number of acts of violence'

aJg."stion, and prosocial behaviors (and limited

irif6rmation about the types of these behaviorsinvolved) that the characters have committed'This dataset's information is useful for examin-

ing such things as whether males/females or

sniart/dumb characters or attractive/unattrac-tive characters are more likely to be under-

weighVoverweight, whether underweighVover-t"i"gitt charactlrs engage. in more activities'nros"ocial behaviors, aniisocial behaviors, and so

iorth. The sample size for this data set is 4,201'

Operattonal definitions of some keyconceqts

Perhaps the most important operational defi-

nition to provide for this study is that used for

ciassitylng characters' body weight' In this

resea.ih, iue.y character's body weight was

classified either as "underweight or thinner

than normal" or "average or normal weight" or;overweigtrt or heavier than normal"' Coders

were instructed to code all characters as "aver-

age or normal weight" by default unless the

cirtoon provided specific, unmistakable rea-

sons baieo on the iharacter's appearanc.e) to

r.t..t'one of the other body weight classifica-

t ions . The benchmark tha t coders were

instructed to use for classifying a character as

being something other than "average or nor-

mal i,veight" wai that the character was "sup-posea tdbe obviously heavy, obese, or fat" ortsupposed to be obviously underweight' thin'

o. itittny." Cartoons are rarely subtle in the

messagei they try/wish to convey; so.utilizingthis t5[e of coding rule was, in actuality, quite

easy for coders to apply in a consistent ma.nner

to tire classification -of

characters'body weight'In this study, we collected the data reported in

thi, .unut.ript only for major characters' We

felt that it was important to distinguish betweenmajor and minor characters because the former

have a much greater and much more consequen-tial impact upon cartoons' storylines and mes-

sages, whereas the latter do not' Therefore' we

ia"opieA operational definition criteria that

rvoulA enable the two character types (i'e', major

and minor) to be differentiated easily and in a

meaningful way. Coders were insuucted to fol-

Iow theie rules in order to determine whether a

character was "major" or "minor": First, all char-

acters were supposed to be classified by default

as minor, unless ttre conditions stipulated in one

or more of the subsequent rules were met '

iecond, if a character appeared in an average of

at least two camera cutsl for each completeminute or additional partial minute2 of the car-

t-n't running time, tfiat was sufficient to label it

a "major" character. For example, if a cartoon

had a iotal running time of B minutes and 10 sec-

onds, a character would have to appear at least

18 times (i.e., in 18 or more camera cuts, [that is'

two per minute or partial minute of.runningtime, multiplied by nine minutes/partial minutes

incrementsi) throughout the duration of the car-

toon in order to be considered "major" using this

lThe best way to understand the concept of'camera cut" is to think of looking through the lens of a camcorder' as if one were

fllrning. whatever is seen tn.'"^"o irr.i."i i, in tir. field of vision. If someone moved outside of the field of vision and then

returned to it, either because of his/her own movem€nt;;;;;t ;f tht T:lt:^t::gll]:,T*'::?ff,::i1$";tffi1l;tliifffil'$kifJffi:?:Tffi:i:'ilil:ila#o?nJri"' - one when he/she was initiauv in the picture, and a second one

;;;;;;;.;t*ted to view again after the temporary disappearance'zrime increments for these computations were based rll -u.iittt. same manner that parking garagefees

It-.bt::d If someone

stays for t hour and fS .ir"i.rittutffi;F.hgg.A f"'.;;;;t' Likewise, in ttris stud!' if a cirtool had a running time of

eight minutes anO ten seconaJ,"itre .l'.poiutiorrt foi,,'u.io.f,,'ino. tttaracter are based on a nine'minute{ong cartoon rule'

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criterion. Third, a character could be considered"major" if it spoke an a\-erage nvo sentences orphrases counting as sentences3 per minute orpartial minute of the cartoon's total runningiime. Fourth, a character could be considered"major" if it had an average of three or morecamera cuts in which it appeared and sentencesor phrases counting as sentences per minute ofthe cartoon's running time' This criterion wasimplemented to take into account that many con-sequential characters in the cartoons do notappear a lot and do not say a lot, but their cumu-lative visual and verbal presence in the cartoonmerits "major" character status even though thetwo previous rules would have prevenled such adesignation from being made. Finally, a charac-ter cbuld be considered "major" if it appeared onscreen for at least 20% of the cartoon's total run-ning time, regardless of the number of cameracuts and sentences or phrases counting as sen-tences spoken. Generally speaking, althoughthese rules may seem to be somewhat convolut-ed, determining whether a character was amajor or minor one was an easy, straightfor-ward, and relatively-obvious process.

AnalysisSome of the findings reported in this paper

are based on descriptive statistics, particularlywhere prevalence estimates are used, as was thecase fo r address ing Research Quest ion 1 .Changes over time (Question 2) are examinedusing logistic regression, since the dependentvariable was dichotomous (e.g., whether or nota cartoon contained underweight or overweightcharacters) and the predictor variable was acontinuous measure. The anaiyses examiningthe characteristics associated with which "tlpes"

of characters (Question 3) were moreAess likelythan others to be underweight/overweightentailed the computation of odds ratios (ORs),

with 95% confldence intervals (CInu) presentedfor each estimate. Odds ratios were selected formany of these analyses because they facilitateddireit comparisons of the messages providedabout underweight or overweight characters,whereas other statistical tests do not lend them-selves so easily to such comparisons and inter-pretation. Results are reported as statisticallyiigniflcant when-ever p<0.05. Where appropri-ate, we have also provided information aboutBonferroni corrections for these analyses, sothat the desired level of statistical significance is

50

Animated carloons and bodY welght

.p<0.02

0'1930-34194044 1950-54 196S64 1970-74 1980-84'1990-96

402oH s oI(!

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. FIGURE I:r. The presence of ony ovenveight ond under*eight choroclers, over time'

maintained even after taking into account thenumber of statistical comparisons made.

ein! RESULIS

Prev alenc e of thin/he avy charactersDue in great part to the instructions to the

coders to use "average/ordinary weight" as thedefault code' the overwhelming majority (BB'0%)of the characters stud.ied were classified into thiscategory. Of the remainder, characters weremore than twice as likely to be overweight asthey were to be underweight (8.6% versus3.4%). Similarly, the cartoons studied were morethan twice as likely to contain at least one over-weight or heavier-than-average character(22.4%) than they were to contain at least oneunderweight or thin character (9.9%).

Figure 1 provides prevalence information fromthe Cartoon Database. It shows that both theproportion of major characters that were under-weight and the proportion of major charactersthai were overweight underwent significantchanges over time (p<0.04 and p<0.0007, respec-tiu"M. Basically, as time proceeded, the generaltrend was for cartoons to become less likely toinciude any overweight characters while simuita-neously becoming more likely to include at leastone underweight character. A closer examina-tion of these relationships showed that bothwere curvilinear in nature. The proportion ofunderweight characters more than tr ip ledbetween 1930 and the later tgO0s (p<0.02) and

3Many dialogs and I'erbal exchanges or utterances do not involve complete sentences, but instead, are based on "short-

hand,, responses that take the place of complete sentences. For instance, if someone asked "How are you doing today?" and

t^t.-..rpo"t. given n,as -n".;,ln tirlsstoAy, tha "flnr" reply would be considered one phrase counting as a sentence, since it

is the functional equivalent of a "I am doing fine" complete-sentence response.

*,:;l

Eating weight Disord., vol. lo: N. 2- 2OO5

" ' - @ w l

H. Klein, and K.S. Shiffman

then declined very sharply until it reached an his-toric low during the mid-1980s [p<0.02), afterwhich another substantial increase occurreduntilthe mid-1990s (p<0.02). Conversely, the pro-portion of overweight characters decreased bynearly 50% between 1930 and the mid-1950s(p<0.05), after which it increased nearly four-folduntil the late 1960s (p<0.03), which was followedby another precipitous decline that lasted untilthe mid-1 990s (p<0.02).

Characteristics associated with thinnessor heaviness

Females were more than four times as likely asmales to be shovrn as an underweight character(OR=4.44, CInu=3.13-6.48, p<0.0001) and, con-versely, males were nearly twice as likely asfemales to be shovrn as an overweight character(OR=7.7 7, CInu=1.23-2.54, p<0.002). Youths wereless likelv to be shor,r,n as overweioht when com-pared to their adult or elderly"counterparts(OR=0. 30, CInu=O.29 -9.44, p<0. 000 1). Body weightwas also linked to characters' height, such thattaller-than-average characters were more thanfive times as likely to be thin as their average orshorter-than-average counterparts (OR=5.46,CInu=3.94-7 .7 6, p<0.000 1). Overweight characterswere far less likely to be depicted as physicallyattractive than their normal-weight or under-weight counterparts (OR=O.35, CInu=O.25-6.56,p<0.002). With regard to messages providedabout the relationship between a character'sbody weight and the "acceptabiliq/" or "ordinari-ness" of that character's physique, whilst car-toons were nearly four times more likely to implythat a thin character's physique was beiow aver-age versus that of an average-weight or over-weight character (OR=3.87, Cloo=3.95-4.93,p<0.0001), they were more than t"welve timesmore likely to imply this about a hear,y charac-te r ' s phys ique (OR=12.33, CInu=9.05-16.80 ,p<0.0001). Overweight characters were morethan twice as apt to be shor,rrn as unintelligent astheir normal-weight and underweight counter-palts [OR=z. 34, CIeb=1.55-3.56, p<0.0001). Hear.ycharacters were more likely to be shovm to suf-fer from some type of physical disability whencompared to their average-weight or thinner-than-average counterparts (OR=1.41, CInr=1.95-1.92, p<0.03). For these particular analyses, read-ers wishing to consider the results in light of aBonferroni statistical correction should utilize alevel of p<0.0071 as the threshold for determin-ing statistical significance.

In terms of most emotional/affective/feelingstates, characters of different body weight classi-fications did not differ from one another. Thiswas true for anger, fatigue, loneliness, boredom,shyness, and fear. A few noteworthy exceptions

:|1W,i*t,la::'i,i:::li*iW:1" li*

were identified, though. Firsf overweight char-acters were less likely than others to experiencehappiness (OR=0.64, CInu=0.47-6.87, p<0.004).Second, thin characters were more likely thanothers to be shown as energet ic (OR=1.76,CInu=1.21-2.56, p<0.003). Third, overweight char-acters were less likely than their thinner andaverage-weight counterparts to be portrayed asloving (OR=0.67, CInu=9.47-9.95, p<0.031. Forthese particular analyses, readers wishing toconsider the results in light of a Bonferroni sta-t ist ical correct ion should ut i l ize a level ofp<0.0056 as the threshold for determining statis-tical significance.

Body weight and activitiesWe also examined a variety of practical and

leisure-t ime act iv i t ies in which charactersengaged, and looked at weight-related differ-ences. For most variables, body weight wasunrelated to involvement in the activity in ques-tion, A few exceptions were noted" though. First,to our surprise, overweight characters weremore than twice as likely as others to exercise(OR=2.35, CInu=1.17-4.70, p<0.02). Second, also toour surprise, television viewing was more thedomain of underweight characters than theiraverage-weight or heavier counterparts(OR=2.42, CIn =1.24-4.73, p<0.008). It is interest-ing to note, though, that on the overall activitiesindex (summing the number of different activi-ties in which characters engaged), a weight-related difference was obtained: Thinner-than-average characters were shoum to be significant-ly more active than their average-weight orheavier counterparts (p<0.009), with the formerengaging in about one-third more activities thanthe latter. Underweight characters were morelikely than others to be shovrn to eat something(OR=1.81, CIn =1.16-2.92, p<0.009). When theydid eat something, however, overweight charac-ters were the ones that were more likely to eatwhat we might term " junk foods" (OR=2.61,CInu=1.39-4.68, p<0.003). Characters of all bodyweight classifications were equaily likely to con-sume a healthy food (p<0.,14J. For these parficu-lar analyses, readers wishing to consider theresults in light of a Bonferroni statistical correc-tion should utilize a level of o<0.0083 as thethreshold for determining statistical significance.

Involvement in a number of prosocial and anti-social behaviors also was examined. Overall, wediscovered that underweight characters weremore apt than average-weight and overweightcharacters to engage in any prosocial behaviors(OR =1. 70, CInr=7.29-2.40, p<0.003). Closer analy-sis of the data showed that thinner-than-averagecharacters provided more financial-type assis-tance to others than normal-weight and over-

t t 2ffi

Eating Weight Disord.. Vol. lO: N. 2- 2OOs€frEuaaF@..giler+

weight charac ters d id ( t=2 .03 , p<0.05) .Conversely, analyses revealed that overweightcharacters were more likely than others to per-petrate at least one antisocial beharior (OR=1.47,CInu=1.16-1 .87 , p<0.002) . Heat 'y ' charac tersengaged in about 50o/o more ph5,sical aggression(t=3.02, p<0.003) and about 50% more verbalaggression (t=3.37, p<0.0008) than their thin oraverage-weight counterparts. For these particu-lar analyses, readers wishing to consider theresults in light of a Bonferroni statistical correc-tion should utilize a level of p<0.0083 as thethreshold for determinin g statistic al signifi cance.

Finally, we looked at the variable classifiiing acharacter's overall goodness versus badness.We found that overweight characters were lesslikely than others to be classified as a "goodguy" {OR = 0.55, CInu = 9.41-9.74, p<0.0001).

G DISCUSSION

Before discussing the implications of our mainfindings, we would like to acknowledge a fewpotential limitations of the present study. Firstthis research was based on animated cartoonswith running times of 20 minutes or less, therebyexcluding longer-form animated cartoons fromconsideration. We do not know whether or notshort-form and long-form animated cartoons aresimiLar to one another with respect to the typesof messages they convey, and therefore cannotassess the extent to which the exclusion of thelatter may affect this study's f indings.Conduct ing research such as ours with thelonger caftoons would be a worthnhile endeav-or for future researchers to undertake. Second,our sample ends during the middle-1990s. Itwould be helpfirl and, we believe, interesting tohave this research extended to the present, sothat the most up-to-date trends possible arestudied and analyzed. Third as with any contentanalysis research study, some scholars mightprefer to see different operational definitions ofthe key concepts used. There is no "gold stan-dard" in content analysis research with regard todefining major versus minor characters, thin ver-sus overweight characters, and so forth. The def-initions that we adopted were chosen on thebasis of common sense, so that they would fosterface validity, and on the basis of simplicity andclarity of implementation, so that they wouldmaximize interrater reliability. We believe thatour operational definitions are well-conceptual-ized and justified; but as with any content analy-sis study, there is no way to hrow the extent towhich the use of different definitions might haveled to different research findings.

Despite these potential limitations, we still

Animated cartoons and bodv weiqht

believe that the present research has much tocontribute to our understanding of cartoons'messages about body weight. Without a doubt,the animated cartoons studied in conjunctionwith this research communicated a clear, consis-tent message with regard to body weight: "Thinis in and stout is out." On virtualy all dimensionsexamined" socially-desired traits were associatedwith thinness and socially-disapproved charac-teristics were associated with being overweight.For example, our culture values youthfuJness overage; youths were more likely to be shovrn to bethin. As another, even better example, our cultureplaces great importance on physical beauty.Cartoons conveyed the messages that thin char-acters are attractive and hear,y characters arebelow-average in attractiveness and especiallybelow-average when it comes to their physiques.Intelligence is also prized in our society and, onceagai4 below-average intelligence was associatedwith the less-valued group: heavier-than-averagecharacters. Even when it comes to emotionalstates, cartoons reinforce the very same types ofmessages. We like being around people who arehappy, energetic, and loving. AII of those traitswere depicted to be more S,pical of thin charac-ters than of those that are normal or heavier-than-average in weight. Compounding theseflndings, we also discovered that underweightcharacters were more likely to perform prosocialacts-that is, to do things that are designed specifi-cally to benefit others-than other characters are,and conversely, that overweight characters weremore likely to engage in antisocial acts whencompared to others. When the overall "good-ness/badness" dimension was examined, hear,ycharacters were far less likely than others to beconsidered "good guys." Taken together, all ofthese findings add up to a pretty convincing over-arching message about thinness and heaviness:the former is good, whereas the latter is not.

Our research is, therefore, consistent with themany published studies (cited earlier) that haveshown negative body image-related messagesprovided by the media. Our work contributes tothis corpus by demonstrating that these t),"pes ofmessages are supplied in a medium to whichpeople are exposed beginning at a very earlyage, for many years, and on a repeated basisthroughout those years of exposure. Animatedcartoons, we contend, both reflect and shapesocial values about body weight, and help toform children's initial notions of what it means tobe thin or hear,y. Through the repeated exposureto such consistently-negative messages aboutbeing overweight and such consistently-positivemessages about being underweighf young peo-ple come to learn that it is good to be thin andbad to be hear,y. These messages, in turry are

Eating Weight Disord., Vol. 1O: N. 2- 2OO5

H. Klein, and K.S. Shiffman

reinforced by other media to which they areexposed (since those medi4 too, typically portraysimilar messages about thinness and heaviness),by their peers, by their parents, and by other rolemodels around them. The adverse effects ofinternalizing such messages about body weighthave been shoum in numerous studies that havelinked them to problems like low self-esteem (23,24), poor body image (25, 26), eating disorders (5,27-29), and depression (25, 30), among others.

Another point we wish to discuss from thisresearch pertains to our prevalence-related flnd-ings. We discovered that, for the past 30 yearsor so, the proportion of major characters shownto be overweight has declined sharply, reducingby more than 50% during that time period. Thisreduction in the presence of overweight charac-ters coincides with a briefer period [from theearly 1980s forward) during which the presenceof underweight characters increased dramatical-ly. We find these changes particularly intriguingwhen they are viewed in light of weight-relatedtrends in the human population of the UnitedStates throughout these years. Far from becom-ing lighter in weighf the American populationhas gained weight steadily in recent years suchthat now, more than ever before, a larger pro-portion ofthe adult and youth populace is over-weight {31,32). As the American people becomeheavier and heavier, they are exposed to moreand more underweight characters in the animat-ed cartoons they watch. The increasing preva-lence of underweight characters helps to rein-force the social expectations of keeping one'sweight low; and the importance of being thinand the traits associated with being thin (such asthose we discussed above) are further rein-forced by showing more and more such charac-ters as time goes on.

It is intrignring to us that animated cartoonsprovide a rather mixed, if not downright hypo-critical, message when it comes to the relation-ship between eating and exercise and bodyweight. Thin" rather than healy, characters wereshown to be more likely to eat something. Butwhen they did consume something, overweightcharacters tended to be more likely to ingest"junk food" than their thinner and average-weight counterparts. In contrast, overlveightcharacters were more apt to exercise and under-weight characters were more apt to be shovrnwatching television. How is it, we wonder, thatthe cartoon characters that are the most likely toeat, the least likely to exercise, and the most likelyto watch telel'rsion are supposed to remain sothin? It would be very interesting to learn justwhat messages young viewers take away withthem from portrayals such as these. Researchhas shown that children tend to learn and to be

Eating weighr n,r"iJ., rr. roi il.' j- zoos r:::::::r:'::

influenced more by media content that is consis-tent in the messages it provides than by contentthat contains inconsistent messages (33, 341, andit is much less-well-understood how mixed mes-sages-such as those just described with regardto diet and exercise-affect them and/or are inter-nalized. This would be a fruitfrrl avenue for futureresearchers to explore.

IMat might be done based on thesefindings?

There are a number of things that might bedone in an attempt to improve on the situationoutlined above. First and foremost, studios pro-ducing new animated cartoons and the story-writers and producers of such cartoons couldbegin to include more positive messages aboutoverwe igh t charac ters . Such charac terscould-and we contend should-be shov,n morerealistically so that more of them are portrayedas attractive, intelligent, loving, happy, and posi-tive just as underweight characters now are. Inaddition, more such characters could-and again,we believe, should-be included in the new gen-eration of cartoons that are being produced. Atthe same time, reducing cartoons' emphasis onthe intrinsic importance of being thin would bea wise addition to accompany the improvedimages of overweight characters. Providingmore-balanced messages about the thinner-than-average characters-for example, by show-ing fewer of them as being so conspicuouslyattract ive, intel l igent, energet ic, and soforth-would help to expose viewers to morerealistic messages about what it means (andwhat it does not mean) to be thin. More thanan5,thing else, what we are advocating here is amovement toward balanced messages regard-ing the relationship benveen personality charac-teristics, social values, and portrayals of bodyweight. Some underweight persons are attrac-tive; some are not. Some overweight personsare attractive; some are not. Likewise, the samecan be said for how intelligent such persons are,how prosocial or antisocial they are, and so on.We believe that one excellent way to begin toimprove cartoons' content vis-a-vis body weightwould be, quite simply, to provide a broad arrayof messages for characters of all types, ratherthan the weight-based stereoffiing that hereto-fore has typifled animated cartoon storylines.

Another positive change that we believe meritsconsideration is the provision of more consistentand health-oriented messages regarding diet andexercise in the next generation of animated car-toons. There is nothing wrong, in our opiniorywith showing overweight characters beingprone to exercising. Quite to the contrary, weconsider this a good thing for cartoons to be

t t 4

depicting. We do belier-e, though, that thin char-acters and average-lveight characters should beshor.tm exercising equalli often, since this behav-ior is no less important for the maintenance ofgood health among thin and normal-u'eight per-sons than it is among those rvho are ovenr.eight.Likewise, there is nothing inherently wrong withshowing undenteight characters eating. But webelieve that, to the extent that animated cartoonstory-writers are going to show charasters con-suming food, all characters, without regard totheir body weight, ought to be included in suchportrayals. To date, our research has found thatcartoons have tended to show underweight,overweight, and normal-weight characters eat-ing healthy foods about equal ly often. Weapplaud such imagery and urge story-writers tocont inue to p rov ide such messages in theyears/cartoons to come. One area for improve-ment would be in terms of how so-called "iunkfood" consumption is shoum, since the tendlncyto date has been to show heavier characters con-suming more such foods than their thinner coun-terparts. Minimizing the presence of this ffie offood consumption in animated cartoons proba-bly would be wise, so as to help social izeyounger viewers to develop better eating habits.To the extent that it will continue to be shown,we believe that it should be shornm as somethingthat underweight, normal-weight, and over-weight characters alike do. Alternatively, provid-ing some story-lines about the adverse conse-quences that could result from overeatinq orfrom eating poorly {e.g.. losing energy, develop-ing health-related problems) might be an effec-tive, entertaining way of conveying useful infor-mation about diet and exercise to young people.During the 1970s, the animated series Fat Albertand the Cosby Kids did an exemplary job of pro-viding this t),pe of message to viewers in a waythat was hiShly entertaining. It is programmingof this gpe that we are advocating here.

Final ly, providing counter-programmingamidst televised animated cartoon episodes (oralongside such cartoons made availa^ble to con-sumers on home video and DVD) might also bean avenue worth explor ing. One way thatcounter-programming could be implemented-one that we think might be worthwhile and cost-effective for the television and cable industries to

Animated cartoons and body weight

consider-would be through the addition ofinterstitial segments in existing animated cartoonprograms. Interstitials are small program seg-ments, usually having running times rangingfrom 30 seconds to about 3 minutes, that can beinsefted between cartoon episodes within a givenprogram ifthe episodes are short enough or thatcan be inserted between programs during thecommercial blocks that occur before and afterscheduled programming is broadcast. As short-form segments, interstitials would be inexpensiveto create, and their short running times wouldallow them to be added to a variety of children'sprograms without requiring the broadcaster toedit these programs for time. The interstitialscould be made so that they feature the same car-toon characters shor.tm in the original (i.e., "prob-lematic") cartoons, but with short vignettes thatare simultaneously entertaining, enlightening,prosocially-oriented, and weight-positive. In thismanner, the original, entertaining, but weight-stereotyping cartoons can remain intact and bebroadcast intact while being combined withnewer content that is designed to be equallyentertaining but more prosocial in nature. Overthe years, some studios (most notably HannaBarbera and Warner Brothers) and some televi-sion networks (most notably the AmericanBroadcasting Company TABCD have implement-ed educational and,/or prosocial interstitial seg-ments into their animated cartoon programming,and these programs have been entertaining andpositive in their content4. We applaud theseefforts. Moreover, some research has been con-ducted on the effects of counter-programming,generally showing at least some measure of suc-cess in accomplishing its goals [35). We believethat this type of approach to the weight stereo-typing problem we have outlined in this papermerits further exploration in the years to come.

w'*:ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supportedby a grantby the NationalInstitute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R03-4409885} The authors wish to acknowledge, with gat-itude, Denise Welka Lewis, Scott Desmond. LtsaGervase, and Thomas Lambing for their contributionsto tfus study's data collection efforts.

fianna Barbera, for example, included safety-related interstitial segments into its hourlong Superfriends cartoon bjockduring the mid-1970s. These featured the Wonder Twins in three-minute self-contained cartoons that focused on such too-ics as crossing the street safel5. how to be safe underwater, how to avoid drug use. and so forth. ABC is perhaps the beitknown provider of interstitial animated prognaming with its Schoolhouse Rocli interstitial behveen-program segments fea-turing well-kno\4n \,'ignettes like "l'm Only a Bill," "Conjunction Junction", and "Interplanet Janet". Most recently, theWarner Brothers studio's cartoon programs The Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain incorporated highly-entertaininginterstitial animated cartoons ofone to three minutes in length, focusing on such subjects as the names ofvarious countriesof the world different types of cheese and the countries from which they originate, and the elements of the periodic table.

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H. Klein. and K.S. Shiffman

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