ONCE upon a time, even the most precocious little girl was content to celebrate her birthday with a round of pass the parcel and musical chairs.

But now a manicure and a make-over is being sold as a suitable way for fashionable five-year-olds to entertain their guests in style.

Pamper Partys is the latest phenomenon to target the pre-teen pound, offering children the sort of beauty treatments normally reserved for their mothers.

The Glasgow-based company is fast gaining a following among primary schoolgirls across Scotland, with its promise to style the hair, nails and make-up of little misses and their party pals in the privacy of their own home – and provide a Polaroid photograph to record the event.

Pamper Partys, run by teenage entrepreneur and student Ashley McKay, has projected earnings for the coming year of £1 million – but experts worry that it is offering girls too much, too young.

Professor Joan Freeman, a developmental psychologist at the University of Middlesex, said teaching little girls to pamper themselves at the age of five could spark self-esteem problems and increase the risk of eating disorders in later life.

She said: “I think you have to accept the possibility this sort of activity could damage a child. Little girls already are informed by society that women are judged on their appearance, and to focus on looks in this way can accentuate the feeling that we are not good enough.

“We should be focusing on activities which build self-esteem at an early age, not things which risk making children feel less confident about their looks.”

Dr Kerri McPherson, a lecturer in psychology at Queen Margaret’s University College in Edinburgh, backed this argument. She said: “We know absolutely that over-concern with body image at a very young age is an important risk factor for eating disorders in later life, and if primary school children are attaching great importance to the way they look, this could lead to anorexia or bulimia. To give manicures and make-overs to such young children promotes to them the fact that our bodies can be changed, to look more attractive.

“As they are made aware of this they will look at strategies for changing their bodies – sadly that might mean losing weight by going to the toilet to throw up after they eat.”

She added: “We talk about intrasexual selection – this is when people compare themselves to people of their own sex, for example when little girls are trying to attract boyfriends and start to think about their own attractiveness in relation to their peers. Parties offering make-overs risk creating a competitive environment.”

The criticisms come against a backdrop of growing concern about pressures on young girls in the UK consumer society. In July last year, Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, criticised the “sexualisation” of children, while fashion retailer Next was attacked by child welfare campaigners when it targeted a T-shirt bearing the slogan “So many boys, so little time” at girls under six.

In March, high street chain Bhs created a storm of controversy when it emerged it was selling push-up bras for ten-year-olds and bikini pants for seven-year-olds embroidered with the slogan “Little Miss Naughty”. Both stores withdrew the products.

Yet Ashley McKay, a 19-year-old psychology student at Glasgow University, sees nothing wrong in Pamper Partys. She hires stylists and therapists to run the parties at girls’ homes for £6 a head, advertising the events for children five and up.

Demand is now so high that Ms McKay is negotiating with lawyers to develop UK-wide franchising of the brand, which also offers a range of at-home fancy dress parties on a fairy, princess or pop star theme.

Ms McKay rejects suggestions that the apparent fun of such events could create problems for little girls in the future, or encourages the sexualisation of children.

“To suggest this is the kind of environment that could lead to eating disorders is totally wrong,” said Ms McKay, whose inspiration for Pamper Partys was sparked when she spotted a flyer in a Paris hotel foyer advertising jewellery parties for girls in their own homes. “This is about fun, and the girls love it.

“They get their nails filed and polished, a funky up-do for their hair and eye-shadow, lip gloss and light foundation for their faces. Some parties involve both make-overs and fancy dress, so the girls end up looking like little fairies.

“There is nothing raunchy or untoward about the make-overs – we wouldn’t do that.”

Linda Bandoni, of Cardonald, Glasgow, whose daughter Taylor treated her playmates to a make-over to celebrate her sixth birthday in August, said: “It is not too much too young. It’s just a one-off thing. We’ve all clomped about in our mother’s high heels when we were kids. This is the same idea. The girls loved it, and their mums were really pleased when they saw how their little girls looked.”