Half the six-year-olds asked to pick their ideal body shape from a range of digitally altered images of themselves chose one that was three sizes smaller than the real image – the slimmest option they could choose.
Many of the girls questioned in the study, by Cambridge University, said they thought being skinnier would make them more popular.
The experiment was carried out ahead of Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance, a television programme to be screened on Channel 4 on Tuesday.
Full story: Half of Britain’s six-year-old girls ‘want to be thinner’ – Telegraph