With the influx of beauty and fashion glossies, and other media, that feature women as ultimate goddesses in unrealistic images, it is perhaps something that is even more bound to happen in this day and age - young girls constantly being pressured about their looks.
A new Girl Guiding UK survey shows that 87 percent of young girls believe being judged more by their looks than by their abilities.
The survey also shows that one in four girls of 11-21 years of age would consider taking cosmetic surgery to enhance their looks. It added that one of five girls in primary school age admitted going on a diet, and that more than a third of teenage girls went on to skip meals to lose weight.
"They are quite scary statistics, as is the fact that people are seeing this as acceptable behaviour. I have seen friends go through eating disorders, really suffer from self-confidence issues. It's always there, there's always that constant expectation to look a certain way," said Jenna Nicholls, among the 1,000 peer educators undergoing special training to deliver a program called Dove Self-Esteem project (DSEP).
The DSEP aims to discuss the issue of self-confidence among young girls and to give them tools on how to rise above it. It partnered with Girl Guiding UK to launch the "Free Being Me" badge, which takes on an important role in the project.
Aside from the Girl Guides, there is also a group called Brownies for girls of 7-10 years of age, which would discuss how girls are made to portray as princesses.
On the other hand, the Girl Guides would expose various beauty myths and techniques - such as airbrushing and touch-ups - done on the covers of those beauty and fashion glossies, as well as would include healthy discussions to boost their confidence.
Completion of training would give these young girls a badge, especially if and when they can prove they took up the challenge as correspondents in spreading the good word about the project to their schools and communities in various ways.
"Our partnership with Girlguiding in the UK to launch the Free Being Me badge builds upon the great work being done by the DSEP, allowing us to reach more young people and positively affect their body confidence and self-esteem so they can realise their full potential in life," said Dove UK and Ireland Brand Director Lucy Attley.
"Low body confidence is a serious issue that is having a vast and damaging impact on the quality of life of many young girls in the UK," Attley added.
Nicholls, meanwhile, made no assumption that it would be easy to change the attitudes of these young girls toward their looks. Yet she noted the importance of training and conducting the program for these young girls by their peers, who are similarly between 14 and 25.
