Preschoolers and Weight Issues
In a research conducted by the University of Central Florida (UCF), it was discovered that many preschool-age girls worry about their weight. Of the 121 girls surveyed, 31 percent were always worried about being fat.
The UCF researchers believe that the media’s portrayal of “beauty” influences children on how they perceive their bodies. However, contrary to previous studies, they concluded that children’s behavior and self-esteem were not really influenced by the video clips of thin princesses shown during the study. This was derived from the fact that even the group that was shown non-appearance-related videos (Dora the Explorer, Cliffor the Big Red Dog) still gravitated towards appearance-related activities after watching.
Though different researchers might not see eye-to-eye about how images of beauty in media really affect young girls, it is better to err on the side of caution and try to limit their exposure to princess-type movies that promote a particular type of beauty.
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