Barbie shapes up in body makeover

She’s had 180 careers — astronaut, teacher, architect and even US president — but take off the outfit and, for many, Barbie’s was still a body shape just did not work in the real world.

After years of criticism that the doll’s impossibly tiny waist, icy blue stare, and stick-thin limbs created a negative body image for girls, toy maker Mattel has bowed to public pressure — and plummeting sales — and diverted from the shape that has been sold more than 1bn times over the last 57 years.

The doll’s makeover is significant — Barbie will have three new body types — petite, tall, and curvy.

And it is not just her shape that is changing, the the new dolls will come in seven different skin tones, 22 eye colours, and with 24 different hairstyles.

The new curvy Barbie has a bigger bust and bottom, thicker thighs, and a protruding tummy. She made it onto the cover of Time magazine yesterday with the headline: “Now can we stop talking about my body?”