Research by Cambridge professors suggests that concerns over weight affect girls as young as six.

A televised survey, parts of which were broadcast on the Channel 4 show Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance, also showed that half of Britain’s twelve year old girls considered themselves to be too fat.

The study was devised by Dr Terri Apter, a psychologist and Senior Tutor at Newnham College, and asked girls aged six, nine and twelve, with a normal body weight, to select their ideal body image from a series of digitally altered pictures at 5% increments.

Half of the six year olds questioned wished to be three sizes smaller; the slimmest option available. Of those girls in the study who were aged twelve, a majority selected a body image smaller to their own.

The study also provides qualitative data, which reveals that initially the girls in the aged six and nine ranges believed that the thinnest girls would be most interesting to get to know, rather than the ones who were deemed to be “fat/chunky”.

The mother of Saffron Davis, the six year old who opted for the thinnest image, has condemned media representations of women for this trend.

Speaking to The Sun, she claimed that, “Saffron looks through my magazines and says her legs are fat. There is a worrying culture of girls thinking they're overweight from a very young age.”

The study coincides with teenage media outlets coming under fire from the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Dr Adrienne Key from the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Eating Disorders Section said: “There is a growing body of research that shows the media plays a part in the development of eating disorder symptoms - particularly in adolescents and young people.”

“Although biological and genetic factors play an important role in the development of these disorders, psychological and social factors are also significant. That's why we are calling on the media to take greater responsibility for the messages it sends out.”

However, despite its alarming implications, the study also suggests that girls are able to challenge body image at a young age. Though their initial response was to find the thinner girls in the images more potentially interesting, further engagement caused them to challenge these perceptions.

When asked questions such as “What if I told you she was an Olympic swimmer?”, the girls questioned quickly challenged their attitudes.

Dr Apter has found cause for optimism in this capacity for change. “What I observed were girls who at times adopted, but who also modifed and resisted ideals of the slender female physique. I also observed how receptive these girls were to changing their views through quiet interpersonal guidance and reflection.

 “Of course it is upsetting to see perfectly normal girls feel dissatisfied with their healthy bodies,  but the exercise also showed how eager girls are to engage with sensible reflections about the meaning and varieties of attractiveness.”