New research has found that playing with Barbie dolls just once can make young girls think they need to be thin.

The study, published in the journal Body Image, found that the dolls made girls as young as five see having a skinny body as ideal.

Researchers interviewed 160 Australian girls aged five to eight to get the findings.

New studies have said that young girls who play with Barbie (pictured) think that being thin is ideal

The research came from interviews with 160 Australian girls aged five to eight

The study concluded that the girls only had to play with the dolls, or look at images of Barbie, to think that they needed to be thin.

International body image expert, Marika Tiggemann, told the Herald Sun that parents shouldn't give their daughters the dolls.

Children should 'not to be given ­Barbies when they are young,' she said.

'If girls already have Barbies then parents should encourage them to do more than just make them look ­pretty.'

It found that just playing with Barbie once made girls think about being thin

Body image expert Professor Marika Tiggermann said that parents shouldn't give their children Barbies

Professor Tiggermann also said that this leads to girls believing that appearance, especially the appearance of being thin, was very important.

'Exposure to Barbie promoted internalisation of the thin ideal in this sample of girls,' she explained.

'This means they think appearance is important and in particular being skinny is good. If fat is bad, then thin is good, and thinner is better.'

Mattel rejected the research and said that they have recently released curvy Barbies (pictured plus-sized model Ashley Graham with the new Curvy Barbie)

Professor Tiggerman said that having a curvy Barbie was a good start

However, toy company Mattel rejected the research findings, saying that it 'failed to accurately represent...realistic play experiences.'

Mattel has recently released a range of Barbies with different body shapes, including a 'curvy' Barbie.

Professor Tiggerman said that she thought the curvy Barbie was a good start, but that more could be done.