Playing with ultra-thin dolls could make girls as young as five want a thinner body, according to a report published today.
It is based on findings following a small-scale study led by researchers from Durham University and involving experts at Newcastle and Northumbria universities.
In the research, 30 girls aged five to nine-year-old, played with an ultra-thin doll, a realistic childlike doll or a car.
Before and after each play session, the girls were asked about their perceived own body size and ideal body size via an interactive computer test using pictures.
They found that playing with the ultra-thin dolls reduced girls’ ideal body size in the immediate aftermath of play and there was no improvement even when they subsequently played with the childlike dolls or cars afterwards, showing that the effects cannot be immediately counteracted with other toys. The realistic children’s dolls were relatively neutral for girls’ body ideals.
The researchers also warn that the dolls, combined with exposure to ‘thin ideals’ in films, on TV and social media, could lead to body dissatisfaction in young girls, which has been shown to be a factor in the development of eating disorders.
Dr Elizabeth Evans from Newcastle University’s School of Psychology, said: “This study isn’t intended to make parents feel guilty about what’s in their child’s toy box, and it certainly isn’t trying to suggest that ultra-thin dolls are ‘bad’.
“What our study provides is useful information that parents can take into account when making decisions about toys.
"Ultra-thin dolls are part of a bigger picture of body pressures that young children experience, and awareness of these pressures is really important to help support and encourage positive body image in our children.”
In previous research, the psychologists found that the more TV we watch the more we prefer thinner female bodies.
In all, 80% of the girls who took part in the study had access to ultra-thin dolls at home or with their friends and almost all of them also watched Disney and related films, which also tend to portray very thin female bodies.
Lead author Professor Lynda Boothroyd, from Durham University’s Department of Psychology, said: “Body dissatisfaction is a huge problem, particularly amongst young girls. It can have serious consequences for girls’ wellbeing and lead to eating disorders and depression.
“The results from our study indicate that playing with ultra-thin dolls, which are sold in the millions each year, could have a real negative impact on girls’ body image. This is on top of all the images of unrealistic body sizes they see on TV, in films and on social media.
"This is something that needs to be addressed in order to reduce the pressure on girls and women to aspire to a ‘thin ideal body’.”
Current widely available dolls tend to have ultra-thin bodies with a projected body mass index between 10 and 16 which is classed as underweight. Realistic childlike dolls used in the study resembled healthy seven and nine-year old children.
Professor Martin Tovee, from Northumbria University’s Department of Psychology, said: “Our study shows how perception of ideal body size and shape is moulded from our earliest years to expect unrealistic ideals.
"This creates an inevitable body image dissatisfaction which is already known to lead towards disordered eating.”
