| dc.description.abstract | In this paper, the research material was the newspaper published in Taiwan after the war, discussing the development of weight loss in Taiwan from the newspaper coverage. The three aspects that had an impact on Taiwan were discussed in order: the formation and spread of weight loss, the transfer and practice of weight loss methods and the prevalence of weight loss.
The formation and spread of weight loss was based on the aesthetics idea ‘The thinner, the more beautiful.’ and the health concept ‘Obesity is non-blessing.’ The majority of the motivation to lose weight was based on these two factors. With these two reasons, the number of weight loss was rising up. And more and more people with high social status and well-known people were joining weight loss.
In terms of the spread and practice of weight loss methods, the information that newspaper provided could usually be divided into three parts: diet, exercise and medical. Each method had its own advantages and disadvantages. Most physicians recommended diet control plus exercise to lose weight, but many people used pills which was less recommended by physicians. After the war, pills were one of the means used by people to lose weight. In the prevalence of weight loss, the amount of one specific pill took the fourth place in the world.
The rise of weight loss brought a wave of losing weight. The newspaper media carrying out aesthetic ideas strengthened the demand of the slim figure and created more business interests. The uni-aesthetic idea ‘The thinner, the more beautiful.’ made many teenagers using intense means to lose weight, and finally even with anorexia or bulimia. The huge business opportunities in the weight loss market not only created lots of new weight loss products, but also caused many unsatisfactory businessmen and public to deliberately break the law.
The development of weight loss in Taiwan from 1950 to 2005: After the war to 1970s, weight loss was formed and spread; in 1980s, weight loss industry was booming including weight loss institutions, diet food, equipment and courses; In 1990s, weight loss was prevalence in Taiwan. People began to face the problem of childhood obesity. The aesthetic idea ‘The thinner, the more beautiful.’ also caused lots of events of using intense means to lose weight. | en_US |