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Depressed 10-year-olds have plastic surgery in mind
GIRLS as young as 10 are thinking about plastic surgery and dieting, and feeling depressed if they don't own the latest mobile phones and iPods.
The modern world has left many youngsters suffering stress, anxiety and unhappiness because they aspire to the model looks of celebrities, and feel they have to have top-of-the-range gadgets to fit in with their school friends.
The findings, published in a study by Girlguilding UK today, paint a depressing picture of a generation of confused young girls growing up obsessed with looks and possessions, and becoming prematurely interested in sex when they should be enjoying carefree childhoods.
Girls of all ages who took part in the study said the pressure to grow up before they felt ready was among the greatest influences on their mental wellbeing.
Feeling compelled to wear clothes that made them look older, sexual advances from boys, and magazines and websites directly targeting young girls with messages they should lose weight, wear make-up and even consider plastic surgery were all identified as damaging.
One of the girls who filled in the questionnaire said: "When I was 11 I read a teenage magazine for the first time and that is when it kind of clicked, 'I should be like this'."
One of the most disturbing findings was that self-harm is now perceived as normal teenage behaviour for girls.
Pressure to own material goods like clothes, iPods and mobile phones left one in five girls feeling angry or sad, according to the report A Generation Under Stress?
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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