Child pageants unhealthy for young girls

Big hair, glitzy costumes, showy swimsuits and cakey makeup are horrifying enough on a grown woman, but child pageants take the absurdity to an all time high. 30-second TLC commercials stuffed to the brim with toddler-tude are enough to make one wonder if nothing, not even the innocence of early childhood, is sacred?
Pageant moms are wellknown for their laundry lists of justifications, which they recite with bravado any time their motherly feathers are ruffled. They say pageants instill confidence, poise and public speaking skills in their prepubescent daughters. But research has led scientists to question the validity of those claims.
According to a study conducted at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis by researchers Anna Wonderlich, Diann Ackard and Judith Henderson, “Childhood pageant participants scored higher on body dissatisfaction, interpersonal distrust, and impulse dysregulation than non-participants, and showed a trend toward greater ineffectiveness.”
It seems that spending early childhood years beneath a layer of Aqua-Net for the purpose of being judged “beautiful” takes its toll on young women. Who knew?
Moreover, the monetary cost of pageant participation is unbelievably high. According to Bankrate.com, parents fork out hundreds for pageant fees. Add the cost of hair, makeup, funny spray-tans plus those elaborate costumes and the price has reached quadruple digits. Serious pageant moms seek professional coaches who charge around $5 thousand for a week of training.
It is certainly feasible that girls might reduce stage fright through participation in beauty performances. But is that really the same thing as gaining self-esteem? Alternative activities like team sports, martial arts and music have been known to build confidence in young people without the harmful focus on external appearance. Mothers would serve the interests of their daughters to a much higher degree in encouraging them to participate in such sports, rather than pageants.