What happens to beauty pageant children when they grow up?
Studies made by Anna L. Wonderlich, Diann M. Ackard, and Judith B. Henderson were discussed in their book called Childhood Beauty Pageant Contestants: Associations with Adult Disordered Eating and Mental Health discussed the results that indicated that adults who were participants in beauty pageants as small children that there was a "significant association between childhood beautfy pageant association and increased body dissatisfaction, difficulty trusting interpersonal relationships and greater impulse behaviors and increased feelings of ineffectiveness".
While many beauty pageant moms argue these points to be not valid, there seems to be a real and direct correlation to a lot of eating disorders and mental health issues suffered by adults were took part in beauty pageants regularly as children according to the aforementioned study.
It would seem logical to think that the pageants would result in long term ill effects on the children involved in the process since the pressure to look "perfect" all the time could provide anyone a distorted look at what is acceptable and correct in society. The fact that these young children are exposed to these adult concepts so early on would cause concern since the children have not developed the coping mechanisms to deal with life’s issues when things aren’t perfect.
