Once they grow older it's the turn of celebrities on TV or in magazines to have the power over impressionable minds.

But do such images mean children grow up with a distorted view of what's 'normal'?

Some teens do struggle with their self-esteem as they go through puberty and, combined with a natural desire to feel accepted, this can mean it can be tempting to compare themselves to others, either the people around them or celebrities.

Pressure to look and act a certain way can come from many sides, including friends, family, school and the media.

In a bid to raise awareness, the national and Lancashire Healthy Schools Programmes provide a framework for promoting health, giving children and young people the information and skills they need to lead healthy lives.

Schools must ensure through their personal, social and health education (PSHE) lessons that they have mechanisms in place to ensure all pupils' views are reflected in the curriculum, teaching and learning, and the whole school environment.

Promoting positive emotional health and wellbeing to help children and young people understand and express their feelings is a particular priority, and a Healthy School must provide opportunities for children and young people to participate in activities and responsibilities which build their confidence and self-esteem.

Heather Hardy, Lancashire County Council's Healthy Schools co-ordinator, said: "In the Healthy Schools programme, we concentrate on healthy bodies and minds rather than fitting any particular template for what anyone should, or shouldn't, look like.

"In these days of increasing pressure from the media and advertising imagery, we feel it is particularly important for young people to feel comfortable and confident about themselves and to focus on looking after themselves properly, eating a healthy diet and taking enough exercise."

School nurses also contribute to best practice in the classroom delivery and on an individual one to one basis on topics such as growing up, body image, sun safety and healthy food choices.

But is it working? Conscious of how they look, girls as young as seven or eight are now using beauty salons.

Jo and Cass beauty therapist Chelene Pedder said manicures, pedicures and make-up lessons are particularly popular among the pre-teens.
"They tend to start off coming in with their mum and then will come in with a friend as they get older," Chelene said.

"A lot of mums will encourage it and bring them in, because they prefer it to be done at a salon rather than their daughters doing it themselves at home.

"It can be good to teach them about caring for their skin from a young age because people can go about things the wrong way.

"A lot of celebrities have fake tans and false nails so when girls look through magazines that's what they aim for."

Spending mother-daughter time together in the salon has become something of a tradition for Norah and Kathryn Mercer.

They will often spend their Saturday afternoon having a manicure, facial or massage. It's a treat time together, it's like a girlie thing to do," Norah said. "We see it as a genuine treat for us, and a chance to catch up and have a gossip."

Teacher Kathryn, 27, has seen how fast girls are maturing today in comparison with herself.

"I come into contact with girls who really go for it with their tans and false nails and their hair, and it just wasn't as readily available when I was at school," she said.

Norah, a primary school head, agrees.

"I think there's a lot of pressure on girls from outside influences that really encourage them to look at how they appear to others, and you see that with girls far more than boys," she said.

"It's the world we live in and a lot of it comes from television, there's no two ways about it. I think children today have massive pressure on them."

Dr Imogen Tyler, a sociology lecturer and body image expert at Lancaster University, believes celebrities have a strong part to play in influencing how young people think.

"Young girls become subject to pressures around sexual identity much sooner than they used to, because popular culture is much more sexualised and tends to focus on the female body which impacts more directly on young girls," she said.

"Women have historically been associated with their body much more than men have and this has created a particular set of pressures for young girls around growing up and taking on an adult identity.

"Products are marketed to children at a much younger age than they were previously; children have become targeted as consumers in their own right, and they need to be given the skills required to allow them to have a more critical relationship with it."

Martin Burgess, head at Skerton High School, agrees. His school recently ran a course aimed at boosting girls' self confidence.
"I get very worried about it, because where does their childhood go?" he said. "I want them to be able to make their own minds up and challenge stereotypes.

"It seems to me that they have got to have the latest thing, whether that might be a pair of trainers or a computer game."

Girls in particular get mixed messages from the media. On one hand, they are bombarded with advertisements for junk food and fast food on television and magazines, yet the same magazines and television shows that serve up these ads also celebrate the 'Size Zero' phenomena by portraying waif-like models.

But are young people really being manipulated by the images of stick-thin models sashaying down the catwalk, or are they able to judge for themselves the negative effects of what's portrayed?

Year 10 pupil Jolene Goulding said Skerton High's recent Girls Allowed course, run by the school nurse team, helped increase her self-esteem.
"Girls can be very bitchy to each other," she said. "I think it's pathetic trying to look like everyone else, but it depends what sort of girl you are.

"Some girls will look at others to see their clothes and how they do their make-up, and if you see someone in a magazine and you like what they are wearing then you might want to get something similar."

Rheanne Harrison, a Year 7 pupil, agrees.

"If they are super skinny you think you have to copy them," she said. "If you are being bullied and being called fat and then you read in magazines about how much you should weigh, it can make you ill."

Year 8 pupil Tammy Milne added: "You hear about things like diet pills being available on the internet, and websites that help you lose weight. There's a lot of pressure."

Boys, on the other hand, don't appear to share the same concerns.

Year 8 pupil JonPaul Beattie said: "Boys just aren't bothered about as many things as girls are."

And Jack Bewsher, 12, said: "With girls, it's all about fashion and what they look like, but boys don't care as much."

But 15-year-old Gavin Acton admitted: "I didn't care about wearing the latest shoes when I was 11, but now I'll look at other lads' trainers to see what they're wearing. I think when you get older peer pressure probably gets worse."