Young girls reported heightened body dissatisfaction after playing a children's internet game for just 10 minutes, a study has found.

Primary 🛡 school children expressed a more pronounced desire for a slimmer figure immediately after playing a free game which challenges players 🛡 to give a female character a makeover for a date.

For the study conducted by the University of the West of 🛡 England (UWE Bristol) youngsters played Dream Date Dress Up, one of several appearance-focussed games targeted at girls hosted on the 🛡 Friv website.

A group of 40 eight and nine-year-olds from the South West of England played the makeover game, which sees 🛡 players changing the hair and clothing of a female character to match a boy character's ideal. Another 40 played Penguin 🛡 Diner, a game from the same website which is not based on appearance.

Participants were then instructed to select the silhouette 🛡 of a body shape which most closely represented their own, and the one most desirable to them. Both groups recorded 🛡 a preference for a slimmer figure but children who had played Dream Date