Fijian girls succumb to Western dysmorphia — Harvard Gazette
Corydon Ireland
Abstract
In 1982, Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Anne E. Becker was still an undergraduate at Radcliffe when she traveled to Fiji for a summer of anthropology fieldwork. What struck her about this South Pacific island nation — and has in many research trips since — was “the absolute preoccupation with food and eating,” she said. “Family and social life really revolve around food. … It’s all about food, all the time.”
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Community Reviews
kayo
12/10/2025
No rating
- only a few yrs after introduction of television (globalization) led to sharp increase of eating disorders (0 -> 11.3%) - in 2007, 45% of girls purged in the last month - many mothers supported becoming thinner as a way of escaping the island for better life