Love The Rugrats!

KNOW THE Rugrats? Sure you do. :)

Tommy, the one-year old superhero, the youngest of them all. Bald and bumpy head and with very few teeth (if any!).

Chuckie, Tommy’s best friend. Red spiky hair, big square glasses and some adenoid problem. Fearful of nearly anything unfamiliar, especially clowns.

Angelica, Tommy's nasty older cousin. Approximately 2-3. Spoilt. Very demanding and gets pretty much what she wants. I want to smack her. :P

Phil and Lil, approximately 1.5 years old. Both eat bugs, mud or garbage any chance they get.

... and the rest of the pug-ugly infants who make the 'terrible twos' a happy blend of smart-aleck humor and wacky adventure.

Got (or know) one?

Ugly kid, I mean.

Love the Rugrat kid less than the so geram-cute or dolly-pretty one?

No?

Let me help spill the ugly truth.

Ugly kids are at greater risk and are more vulnerable.

Sociologist Dr. Andrew Herrell of Unversity of Alberta says: "parents would certainly deny it, but pretty children are better taken care of than ugly ones".

"Most will react to this with shock and dismay and say:

"I love my kids and I don’t discriminate on the basis of attractiveness."

Dr Harrel, himself a father of five and grandfather of three, says the point of the research is that people do.

The study on over 400 families with children aged between two and five years observed how parents treated their children during trips to the supermarket. Researchers found physical attractiveness made a big difference. 1.2% of the least attractive children were buckled in the trolleys, compared to 13.3% of the most attractive youngsters.

Ugly parents

Dr Harrell ascribes this ugly behaviour to the instinctive Darwinian response: "we're more likely to lavish more attention on attractive children because they carry our best genetic material"

The study hopes to creates an awareness in parents of this discrimination, even if they might not admit it.

Meantime, Rugrats, take heart! Some fairy tales do come true.

Remember The Ugly Duckling? Born ugly doesn’t have to mean doomed for life, says Dr Nadja Reissland, Professor of Child Development at Aberdeen University:

"People who are more attractive may have it easier but it could be more difficult for

them if they are constantly in demand."

"On the other hand, children who are ignored may fight harder for attention

and therefore be more likely to succeed. In the end I am sure it comes out equally."

"Famed models such as Jodie Kidd and Erin O’Connor often complain

of having been thought ugly at school. As children they may be thought of as unattractive,

but as they become older it becomes an advantage."

Beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder.