Too much, too young

CELEBRITY designer Liz Hurley is in the firing line for selling teeny weeny children’s bikinis. Her latest swimwear range for eight to 13-year-old girls includes a leopard-print string bikini, the Cheetah Cha Cha, the Collette Bikini, a barely there top with a cheetah trim and the Tweeny Polly Bikini, a ruffled two-piece. The under-eight range also includes two-pieces and bikinis. The collection has been slammed by parents as being totally inappropriate.

Also in the spotlight for the wrong reasons is American singer and actress Jessica Simpson. While on a chat show recently, she showed off a picture of her four-month-old daughter wearing a tiny yellow crochet two-piece. The picture was followed by a flurry of angry internet comments.

Promoting a sexualised image of girls may seem to some as simply playing dress up, however, for children it can start a long and damaging negative association with their bodies.