In Fiji’s indigenous
population, however, broadcast television only became available
in the mid-1990s and household ownership of television varies
substantially among communities. Previous research in Fiji has
supported the impact of mass media exposure on disordered
eating there. Narrative data also identified the potential influence
of indirect exposure to media, through social interaction with
television-exposed peers. The primary objective of this study
was to test hypotheses that both direct and indirect television
exposure would be associated with eating pathology in a
Fijian study population with comparatively short-term and
heterogeneous exposure to visual mass media.