Results of the study were alarming to researchers, who discovered that girls as young as five years old were already concerned about body image. During research, the girls were shown images of different figures, including Barbie - with her tiny waist – and Emme, a full-figured doll modeled after America’s full-figured model of the same day. 

The young students were then asked to pick figures that represented their actual body shape at this time, the body shape they ideally desired, and their ideal body shape as an adult woman.

The difference between the shape girls thought they had and the shape they wanted was then analyzed.

The results showed that “girls aged five to six were more dissatisfied with their shape and wanted more extreme thinness after seeing Barbie doll images than after seeing other pictures. For those aged six to seven the negative effects were even stronger.” 

Dr Margaret Ashwell, science consultant and former director of the British Nutrition Foundation, said: “These results are very important and show that children can be influenced at a very early age. We need to be aware of that and take the appropriate action.”

She stressed the importance of programs that teach positive body image and downplay the images found not only on dolls like Barbie, but on television and in the movies.  “Such programs need to make girls aware that the thin beauty ideal is unattainable and unhealthy,” adds the study.

The research also adds that only about 1 in every 100,000 women actually has a body shape that mirrors that of Barbie, a doll that’s been produced by Mattel Corporation since 1959.  Barbie has boasted her signature tiny waist since she was introduced at the New York Toy Fair that year.