No Kidding

From manicures to hair styling, laser surgery and even breast implants, today’s adolescents, encouraged by parents, are obsessed with looking good. That is a dangerous trend, making them adults long before their time.

PICTURE SPEAK

MIRROR IMAGE: (from top left clockwise) A girl works out at Mogre’s gym, Shivya gets ready for a party, Gaelyn, an aspiring model and Jay after hair styling at Watermelon

The desire to look and feel good is so strong that the brat pack is not willing to let time run its own course. The ageing aunties, in the grip of a mid-life crisis, are fast being elbowed out of beauty clinics by clients in their pre-teens and early teens. Over 20 per cent of client turnover in cosmetic surgery and beauty clinics is the age group between 12 and 16 years. Says Dr Jamuna Pai, who runs a chain of beauty and skincare clinics called Blush: “This phenomenon has picked up over the last two years as children are now looking at a career in modelling or television, so they come for various surgeries and skin procedures.” To top it all, the showbiz world’s obsession with younger and younger models has not helped matters. Prasad Bidappa, fashion consultant and grooming expert, says he routinely gets 12-year-olds who are aspiring to be models. “Sometimes they come alone straight from school and sometimes they are brought to us by their parents. We ask them to concentrate on school and come back in a couple of years.” Adds socialite Queenie Dhody, “I started modelling at 19, which was young then but today that’s considered very old.”

GYMS, SALONS AND FASHION

Join the Brat Wagon Today’s kids are no longer happy being cute, they want a groomed and fitter look. And apparel brands, salons and gyms are more than happy to woo these little customers.   PICTURE SPEAK GETTING TRIM: (above) Moin getting his hair styled at Watermelon Salon in Mumbai, (right, far right) children work out at Tree House, an exclusive gym for Kids On a hot Saturday afternoon, Watermelon, a specialised salon for young adults, is a riot. In place of fashion magazines, the spacious salon is littered with funky soft toys and PlayStation 2 consoles. Ruff, a premium clothing brand for children, started Watermelon salon to build brand equity with their little customers by making them spend more time at the clothes store. But the sight of a dozen and a half toddlers going berserk in this trendy salon is a clear testimony of the fact that the experiment is now proving to be a compelling business option. If India is a consumerist society today, where the adults are living it up, the juniors are not far behind. From pester power to direct consumption, the teens and the pre-teen segment is driving consumption and forcing marketers to create new categories, product lines and service offerings. So from salons, gyms to exclusive clothes and jewellery lines are available for the very demanding market segment. Explaining the market for children, Anand Patel, brand manager of Ruff, which has started Watermelon salons in five cities, says: “We wanted to get into high fashion grooming market for children. The salon started out as a value added service to drive footfalls into the stores, but today it seems like a compelling business opportunity even outside the stores.” While Watermelon started out as a hook for the mainline apparel stores, From Tears to Cheers, another salon for kids in south Mumbai was born after Tripti Arya, the store’s proprietor, saw such salons in the USA. From popular hair cuts for girls and boys, the salon offers manicures and pedicures for kids. “We just clean the feet and hands and clip the nails,” says Arya. The treatments are very different from the ones done on adults. The trend has caught the fancy of other metros as well. The ambience at A Cut Above Children in Chennai is aesthetically designed with its customers in mind. Painted prettily in an array of bright colours, the studio has a tiny library for children and a host of book and crayons too. Children in the age group of six to 14 years soak in this space while waiting for their turn. The market for kids is evidently on a boil, if the numbers are to be believed. According to Technopak, the overall market size for kids (12-16 years) in urban areas is estimated to be Rs 15,000 crore. The total market size of apparel for kids (12-16 years) in urban areas is estimated to be Rs 1,600 crore, which is growing at 25-30 per cent per annum. If fitness is finding currency among the parents, fitness gurus and kindergartens are joining hands to launch kids’ gyms. Fitness expert Leena Mogre has partnered with a playschool chain called Tree House to start fitness centres for children between four and 11 years. The gym has five centres in Mumbai with around 70 students. Explaining the need for such gyms, Mogre says: “Ideally, children should play in the natural environment, but in the absence of playgrounds and parks, most kids end up staying at home. The age between four and 11 is the concept-forming age when children should get used to the idea of fitness so that when they grow up, fitness becomes their second nature.” The gym has special equipment, which function on hydraulic pressure pumps. They are to make the body proportional and are not for muscle building, stresses Mogre. The treadmills, elliptical trainers and rowing machines are all manual and don’t use electricity. And for those parents who cannot identify with the concept of a gym, Rajesh Bhatia, the managing director of Tree House Education has more activities like karate, dance and music on offer. Says Bhatia: “The place is not just a gym, it’s an activity centre for those who want to opt for other things.” But aping adults can prove harmful for kids. Child specialists and orthopaedics object to the use of dumbbells, no matter how light. “A young child’s body is not ready to take on changes that exercise can cause. It could lead to muscle tear and injuries,” says orthopaedic surgeon Dr Suryakant Kulkarni. He explains that young bones are tender and when subjected to exercise can even harm skeletal growth, a fear which has probably resulted in the concept of kids’ gyms not picking up in the country. Recently, the high-end fashion brand for children between 0-14 years entered India through Major Brands. The French brand starts at Rs 500 and goes up to Rs 3,000 and follows the trends straight from the runways of Paris. Says Suresh D Bhatia, director, Major Brands, “Today’s children have assertive personalities. They evolve quickly and no longer want to be seen in specific kids stores, but rather prefer to shop at stores where ‘fashion’ is sold.” It’s not just the apparel companies that are bending over backwards to cater to the little masters, even regular Spas and Salons are riding the brat-wagon by offering freebies and special party packages to their clients’ children. Evidently, the world is a beautiful place for the grooming industry, where both the old and the young come seeking the elixir of life.

PICTURE SPEAK

“A young body is not ready for changes caused by exercise. It can lead to muscle tear and injuries.” DR SURYAKANT KULKARNI, ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEON

It’s not just the cosmetic surgery shops that are riding the wave of young India. One would imagine that spas and salons are for the overstressed working professional of today, but most spas claim that 15-20 per cent of their clients are pre-teens and teenagers. The Vedic Village’s medical spa in Kolkata, Sanjeeva, has an ayurvedic package called the Dinacharya course that they especially recommend to teens. It is a residential package that costs Rs 3,000 a day, which combines medical solutions, yoga and naturopathy. Others, like Rudra Spa in Mumbai, are blatant about targeting teens. Says Dhharram Pratap, CEO of Rudra Spa: “We are trying to build loyalty with the children from now, so we give free vouchers to the parents initially and then they start to come on their own.” Adds Arpita Mehta, manager of Franck Provost Spa in Mumbai: “Once we noticed that lots of children were streaming in during the summer holidays. We decided to offer them special discounts and packages.”

TEEN MAKEOVERS
Mansi Malhotra, 17 Years A student of GD Goenka School in Delhi, Mansi loves to go pubbing with her friends. For the last four years she has been getting her body waxed (including a bikini wax) and her hair braided. From the time she was 15, her beauty regime includes facials and hair-styling. She visits the salon at least thrice a month and her average spend per visit is Rs 1,500-1,600. “Looking good is very important and my mom is cool as long as studies don’t suffer.”	Saksha M, 10 years Aakansha M, 14 years The two sisters visit Franck Provost spa for at least a couple of times in a month. While it’s more manicure and hairstyling for the younger one, Aakansha is more experimental with facials and spa treatments. “I love the feel of my clean freshly manicured nails.” SAKSHA “All my friends go to parlours to get different things done.” AAKANSHA

PICTURE SPEAK

FEEL GOOD: Eight-year-old Goonj at Cleopatra Salon in Chandigarh “Children walk in with their mothers for surgery. Today’s society is largely driven by what children want.” DR MILIND WAGH, COSMETIC SURGEON

Even birthday parties are no longer about streamers and frills. They are being celebrated in swish salons and spas across urban India. Manvi Singhee, a class IV student, celebrated her birthday in style at A Cut Above Children, an exclusive salon attached to Savera Hotel in Chennai. With her girlfriends, Manvi celebrated her sixth birthday with a beauty salon party where the salon staff and therapists pampered their senses. “They got themselves a manicure and pedicure, styled their hair and got their nails painted and tattooed too,” says Manisha Singhee, Manvi’s mother, who organised the party. As take-aways, the children got vanity cases containing a nail polish, lip gloss and lipstick. A Cut Above Children started six years ago primarily to cater to children’s whims and fancies.

Manvi and her friends may have had a blast but what the parents may not know is that it may sow seeds of serious disorders in their little ones. As Prabhjot Malhi, child psychologist at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, says: “Teenagers are not cognitively mature for beauty-enhancing treatments. It interferes with the child’s development, fostering narcissism at a young age, which makes children emotionally vulnerable.”

In a country where 475 million are under 20 years of age and some 300 million are under 15 years, it makes sense to sell a pipe dream to these naive kids. Be it spas and salons or high-end fashion brands, everyone is looking at tapping this segment. The grooming market in India is estimated to be between Rs 8,000-10,000 crore. Of this, the children’s market (12-16 years) is approximately Rs 150 crore, but has the potential to grow rapidly. This segment is currently driving growth in beauty products, colour cosmetics and fragrances. While the 6-10 years segment is getting a new look through re-bonding and hair colour, the teenagers are already dabbling with surgical procedures. From skin lightening to cosmetic surgeries, natural flaws are being lasered out at a very early age.

PICTURE SPEAK
PRETTY CONFIDENT: Akansha gets a facial at Franck Provost, Mumbai	HEP LOOK: Youngsters at A Cut Above Children salon in Chennai
“If we have consent from parents of minors and the doctor is confident, it is ethical to operate on them. ” DR VIJAY PANJABI, PRESIDENT, IMA, MAHARASHTRA

Be it to please the boyfriend or win the next beauty pageant, these kids are not willing to wait for time and tide. If hormones are playing truant, they deal with it by undergoing the laser treatment for hair and if their face is not perfectly shaped, they align it by using botox. If girls are not the perfect 34B by the time they are 15, they seek solace in implants. If the nose is not perfectly rounded, they get a rhinoplasty done. A case in point is 17-year-old Shivya Ahuja, who has been undergoing hair removal laser treatment from the time she was 15. She says: “The treatment has made a lot of difference to my appearance.”

It’s almost as if adults are trapped inside bodies of children, and they will go to any extent to change their image. When children behave like adults and try to look older than their age, their emotional growth can be skewed. Points out Dr Rajendra Barve, counsellor and president of the Bombay Psychiatric Society, “Once such people reach the age of 40 or 45, they want to go back to the childhood they’ve missed and start behaving in an immature manner.”

SURGERIES AND SIDE EFFECTS

Under the Knife   PICTURE SPEAK KID STUFF: A girl gets laser hair reduction at Kaya Skin Clinic, Mumbai If you thought cosmetic surgeries were meant for adults, here’s a reality check. Kids are no longer afraid of the surgeon’s knife and are ready to go any length to look groomed. PECTORAL IMPLANTS Implants made of silicon are inserted into the male chest to make it look puffed up and muscular. Boys in the age group of 14-18 prefer this. SURGERY COSTS: Rs 1-1.25 lakh SIDE EFFECTS: Silicon can react with the body or the implant can rotate, as the male chest lacks the tissue required to support silicon implant. It can cause atrophy of muscle and contracture. RHINOPLASTY Cartilage or bone is inserted into the nose to make it straight, sharp, soft or remove hump on the nose. Silicon implants or cartilage from other body parts is used for this surgery. SURGERY COSTS: Rs 35,000-60,000 SIDE EFFECTS: If done in the teens, when skeletal growth is incomplete, cartilage or bone can warp and cause deformity as the child grows. If silicon is used, in about 10 per cent cases, it can lead to exclusion of silicon. BREAST IMPLANTS Silicon implants are inserted in the breast tissue to increase size. SURGERY COSTS: Rs 1.25 lakh SIDE EFFECTS: Doctors claim they are completely safe in adult women. If done in early teens, when the breast formation is not complete, there isn’t enough tissue to insert the silicon. Breasts can develop till the early 20s. LIPOSUCTION Excess body fat is extracted in a liquefied form. Generally done in specific problem areas of the body especially if the patient is dysmorphic and the fat is very difficult to get rid of. SURGERY COSTS: Rs 30,000 for 3-4 litres of fat SIDE EFFECTS: If the safe limits (6 to 8 per cent of body weight) of fat removal is exceeded, it can cause blood loss, fat embolism which means fat can get into the circulation in the blood or kidneys. SKIN LIGHTENING Chemical peels are used to scrub off the degenerative skin and stimulate regenerative skin. SURGERY COSTS: Rs 6,200 for three sessions plus maintenance. SIDE EFFECTS: If new, regenerative skin is not properly protected, it can react with make-up or sunlight or chlorine from the swimming pool. In children, the skin is not mature enough to take the treatment.

Teachers are also warning of the impact on educational progress and personality development that this trend may have. “There are some parents who want their children to lose their childhood before time. Parents are encouraging their children to groom themselves. Young parents are very conscious, with so much drama on television and beauty pageants. However, children today are very resilient and those interested in academics are focused although they have so many temptations,” says Jessie Vaz, principal, Jamnabai Narsee School, a posh suburban school in Mumbai, where children of celebrities study.

Call it the curse of the information age or blame it on a society that’s in the grips of a consumer tsunami, the first victim of this disturbing trend is childhood. Rather than discouraging this trend, parents are fuelling it further as they see grooming as a measure of social success. During their summer vacations, Arjun, 14, and his sister Goonj, 8, are regular customers at Cleopatra, a beauty salon and daytime spa in Chandigarh. They were initiated into salon service by their mother Kajal Arora, a housewife, who shells out Rs 4,500 a month for the service. “They are developing a look-good and feel-good outlook,” she says, adding that the price is worth the “smart” tag her children will get.

“The middle classes are willing to shell out money for these treatments to pursue glamourous careers.” DR RASHMI TANEJA, PLASTIC SURGEON “My kids are developing a look good and feel good outlook. The cost of beauty treatment is worth it.” KAJAL ARORA, PARENT, CHANDIGARH

As if overzealous parents were not enough, arriviste starlets proudly crediting their success to a surgical makeover has made cosmetic surgery a fashion statement. The early onset of adulthood in children is not only the result of increased exposure to media, medical practitioners believe children are maturing faster even genetically. Dr Pai says: “By 16 a girl is grown up, unlike boys who take longer. Even the menstrual cycle is now setting in at 10 years, unlike a few years ago when puberty in females set in at 13 years.” Be it shopping for their own clothes at four or opting for cosmetic surgery at 13, children are taking their own decisions today. Says Bidappa, who has a 16-year-old daughter of his own: “Kids grow up too early, are more aware and have more money to spend. This is the disease of any affluent society and we can’t avoid it.” Dr Rashmi Taneja, plastic surgeon and consultant, Sir Gangaram Hospital, Delhi, recalls her first minor patient, a 15-year-old girl, who came with her parents for a liposuction as she was overweight. The hospital turned down the demand.

Interestingly, the more money the parents have, the more impossible is the demand, claim doctors. Most often these teenagers end up in clinics with their mothers, with a photograph of their favourite film stars asking for a certain type of a nose or chin. Says Dr Milind Wagh, cosmetic surgeon at Hiranandani Hospital in Mumbai: “Children normally come with their mothers as they are more malleable. Today’s society is driven by what children want.”

To many young minds, item girl Rakhi Sawant’s confessions on a talk show about her implants has become an inspiration of sorts. Says Sawant: “When I first stepped into my cosmetic surgeon’s clinic to get breast implants and my lips pumped up, I was shocked to see girls as young as 17 and 18 waiting to get implants. These surgeries are a boon to young girls who want to be like me.”

Apart from missing out on a healthy adolescence, the obsession with looking good could also have far reaching emotional and psychological repercussions. Today, the mindest has changed and so have aspirations. Children no longer aspire to be doctors or engineers, this generation is interested in modelling or acting. Explains Dhody, “Now it is a part of the cultural ethos to look good and children are swept away by this huge wave of peer pressure.”

Parents are often blackmailed into giving in to irrational and even potentially harmful demands. Says Dr Taneja, “Most times, parents consent without understanding the full implications. Kids think that liposuction is an alternative to diet and exercise for weight loss, which it is not.” It can result in complications like fat going into kidneys and the blood stream.

To put it simply, what the brat brigade wants, the brat brigade gets. And parents, unfortunately, are either helpless bystanders or catalysts of this change. But the question that the society at large needs to ask is that even if parents are willing accomplices, should the medical fraternity not raise the red flag at this trend. While cosmetic surgeries on young and even minor patients are legal and ethical, Dr Vijay Panjabi, president of Indian Medical Association, Maharashtra state, says: “In a democracy, it is the patient’s choice to look good and highlight their features. If we have consent of parents in case of minors and the doctor is confident of the surgery, it is absolutely ethical to operate.”

Justifying the desire of children and their parents to look good, medical experts believe that if the doctor is transparent, then it’s perfectly ethical. However, the rate at which cosmetic surgery shops are mushrooming and the stupendous rise in the number of minor patients surely deserves some introspection, that is if we don’t want to put an expiry date on childhood.

-with Jhilmil Motihar, Nandini Vaish, Ramesh Vinayak, Nirmala Ravindran, Akhila Krishnamurthy and Swagata Sen

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