(CNN) Watching television makes viewers more likely to prefer thinner female bodies, a new study shows. Scientists measured the relationship between TV consumption and body preferences among people from a number of remote villages in Nicaragua, in Central America. While those who had very limited access to TV preferred women with a higher Body Mass Index (BMI), the researchers said in a statement, those who often watched TV preferred thinner women. Researchers said this was because thinner women were more prevalent on TV. The team of researchers, led by scientists from the University of Durham in the UK, are calling for better media representation of people of different shapes and sizes to reduce the pressure to aspire to a "thin ideal body."

Source: CNN December 19, 2019 14:26 UTC