• 'Pretty as a doe,
• Delicate as snow,
• Manipulative as a fox,
• I can stop ticking clocks.
• I give out sweet poison to those who call.
• But who cares,
• For with my looks I can deceive them all.
• I am a Baby doll.'

There is no doubt in the fact that our children's attitudes are molded on the basis of what their surroundings teach them. They begin to follow everything that occupies their little world, thus digesting all the things that they see with their observant eyes and hear with their little ears. Of course, experiences that our children go through all their lives, shape them into the people that they turn into eventually. However, often some wrong lessons instilled into their innocent minds, stay with them forever. One of these social evils are dolls.

We as humans are such funny individuals. We all expect our little girls to understand that beauty is only skin deep. We want them to realize that more than physical beauty, it is the mind and soul that counts. We want them to concentrate more on their health and not sacrifice that at any cost. Yet, again we contradict ourselves by the actions that we undertake. Fashion dolls produced by toy companies are Pencil thin, sleek, tall and plastic; these are the perfect set of adjectives to describe this factory-made beauty. Dolls are the often a little girl's favorite toy. These factory-made plastics often turn into the role model our little girls want to fit into. Growing cases of anorexia nervosa and obsession about the way they look are some of the consequences. Studies reveal that at least two out of every hundred teenagers suffer from eating disorders in America. Girls assume that being pencil thin means being beautiful and even a slight trace of fat is ugly. As a result, many a times we find growing girls starving themselves to death, leading to various kind of serious deficiencies. Beauty is considered way above brains or even the heart. As a result of physical self obsession, these girls often go into depression assuming that they are ugly. Various kinds of cosmetic and plastic surgeries are only the beginning of the whole path of dangers surrounding the future of our young girls.

Hence, it is important that as parents, we make them aware of health issues right from childhood. We must make them understand that everyone is beautiful in their own way. As God's children, we should all love ourselves just the way we are. If this is not the case then, when our children suffer from such disorders to what extent are we not responsible? Well, you decide!

By CD Mohatta