NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — During early childhood, people usually start developing unhealthy perceptions of their bodies, according to a new study. And kids as young as seven years old begin to judge their body in ways that lead to eating disorders, said a report in the "Journal of Experimental Chi ld Psychology." "It has been clear for many years that we need to be wary about visual media, which present only a narrow range of bodies, because this affects adults' body perceptions," said the Lead Researcher, Lynda Boothroyd. "Now, we know that's true for children, too. Even very neutral images can adjust their ideas about what is heavy or thin if they see enough of the same kind of body." The Mental Health Foundation says that unrealistic body image can foster negative self-assessment. This causes people to strive for "perfection" and leads to eating and mood disorders. Boothroyd and her colleagues, for their new research, ran experiments that involved kids ages seven to 15, as well as adults, totaling 300 people. They were shown images of people with varying BMIs, and were asked to judge how "heavy" or "light" someone was. Taking the trash out at night can be a hidden danger People of all ages changed their perception of weight after being shown these images of people who are clinically overweight or obese. In fact, they all were more likely to lower their weight estimations after seeing the images of high-BMI people. Researchers argue that this showed that people's perception evolves as young as seven. "Researchers often assume that children's body perceptions and their ideas about body image work the same way as adults," Boothroyd explained. "We've shown that that's true, down to seven years, for basic perceptual impacts on body weight perception." Research in the past found that media representations can cause women in Western nations to experience a greater pressure to stay thin compared to Black Nigerian and Chinese women across all ages. "We have demonstrated that perceptions of body weight are subject to adaptation after effects that are adult-like from seven years of age onward," concluded researchers. "Thus, these results have implications for our understandings of body size, (mis)perception in health and well-being contexts, as well as for our broader understanding of the development of body perception." Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Today's Top Stories SIGN UP NOW ...read more read less