PM - Tuesday, 8 March , 2005 18:33:00 Reporter: Karen Percy MARK COLVIN: The current focus on childhood obesity may be taking attention away from something just as dangerous, childhood anorexia.



A new study shows that girls as young as six are already worrying about their weight, and want to be thinner.



A survey conducted at Flinders University in Adelaide, and just published in a British psychology journal, indicates that girls are thinking about diets at ever-younger ages, and that peer pressure and the media play a major role.



Karen Percy reports.



KAREN PERCY: It's an alarming statistic, that 47 per cent of girls aged five to eight want to be thinner.



The study, by researchers at Adelaide's Flinders University, shows that while at five years of age girls seem relatively unconcerned about their weight, by the time they turn six or seven, usually their second year in primary school, body image is all important.



By then more than 71 per cent of girls want to be slimmer.



Researcher Hayley Dohnt.



HAYLEY DOHNT: When asking children about their dieting awareness and things like that, there were a few children that said, oh, well she should go off to Jenny Craig and that, and that's from a five year old girl. So if at five years of age they're already aware that you go to Jenny Craig to lose weight it's quite alarming.



KAREN PERCY: Hayley Dohnt and her research partner conducted interviews with 81 primary school aged girls, each interview lasting 10 to 15 minutes.



The study is only a preliminary look at the attitudes of young girls, but it shows that body image becomes an issue well before the usually accepted theory of a girl's transition to high school, after the age of 12 or 13.



And alarmingly, it's peer pressure which is having a big influence on younger girls. That and media images, and the experiences of those around them.



Researcher Hayley Dohnt again.



HAYLEY DOHNT: Parents need to be aware that the messages that they portray to their children, whether it's about obesity or whether it's even their own messages in that they might be thinking, oh I don't look so good in this outfit, or I've got to watch my weight when I eat. Even if they're talking about these things with their husbands or with their wives, or whatever, children are very receptive to these messages.



And particularly magazines that are lying around the house that have all these pictures of the skinny models and rake thin celebrities. Children are very receptive to these. They pick them up and they learn about the thin ideals from a variety of sources.



So if parents can be, perhaps, a little bit more aware of this, and also I guess if teachers are aware that it is developing at such an early age, maybe we need to really start looking at some prevention and intervention programs in school as early as school entry.



KAREN PERCY: Dr Michael Kohn from the Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney confirms that he's seeing younger and younger patients with eating disorders.



MICHAEL KOHN: It's not just little girls, it's boys and girls in the pre teen group telling us that they want to be thin, and are actually doing activities to control and lose weight.



KAREN PERCY: But Dr Kohn says parents needn't be too alarmed just yet.



MICHAEL KOHN: But I think it's a shot over the bows, this latest report. And it clearly identifies what we suspect has been going on in that certainly over the last 50 years there's been an increasing number of young people and younger ages at which these people have been presenting with their eating disorders.



KAREN PERCY: Researcher Hayley Dohnt admits the sample size is small, but she says the study is an important first step in preventing disorders down the track.



HAYLEY DOHNT: You know, unfortunately these days the research does suggest that these young children are potentially facing body dissatisfaction, and if we can do something about it now, we're going to prevent a lot of later eating disorders, self esteem issues and those kind of things, which is why this research is so important.



MARK COLVIN: Researcher, Hayley Dohnt from Flinders University ending Karen Percy's report.