Or are ALL children/ teens better looking these days?

[UnreasonabIe]

I'm 44, in my day my friends, and certainly me, weren't as good looking as every young person I come across now. Does anyone else notice this? Is this evolution? Is it looking through some kind of older person lens? Looking back at old photos of us doesn't change my mind either.
I'm going to think my daughter is the most beautiful person inside and out and wouldn't give two hoots regardless, however all her friends, boys and girls, seem the same..... I noticed it on the last day of school as all the children were coming out and commented to a fellow Mum about it who agreed.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

DD is 15 , and unfortunately has my short and short-sighted genes. However where we live majority of the teenage girls seem to be about 5'8- 6ft and size 6. I'm sure there was more variety of sizes when I was at school!

I work with children. Poverty plays a big part in how children present. If they are having lots of nutritious food, fresh air and exercise and a parent taking an interest in their hair, teeth, skin, hygiene, etc. then they look lovely. Children who do not have the same care taken over them, unfortunately do not always look the same.

Malnutrition in children, often presents differently in the modern day because they are filling up on cheap, processed foods with no nutritious value. The excess calories and sodium can give them quite a pallid look and make them quite overweight.

Mmmmm no there are a lot of weird looking kids around here 😄

Yes but it's very area dependent. Going into a deprived area such as parts of north Liverpool is like stepping into a different world from the places most people live, round here it's not rich and there are plenty of council estates but the children look normal enough

People are much more 'in to' appearance now. Kids have their hair done nicely and cut flattering styles. Clothes are well fitting and well matched. Jam jar glasses don't appear to be a thing. When I was early primary we all had terrible fringes that started half way back out heads and a brush pulled through it, hand me down clothes put together. There was little focus on the aesthetics of any of it. Teens now have instagram and YouTube tutorials and aspire to these. Dd is only 12 and gets up early to straighten her hair, apply mascara etc. if she just pulled a brush through it and tied it back she'd look totally different.

I put it down to all those YouTube tutorials on how to do hair and makeup, work out, eat right, deal with bad skin etc - teenagers are so much better groomed than my cohort was! Nowadays they have the knowledge of the world's top make up and hair artists.

The only thing that is different is how fat so many of them are, but I do think it's so positive that they still wear what they want and take care of themselves rather than hiding away.

I do wonder if the grooming pressure will become oppressive as they get older - whether they'll get fed up and rebel against it, or whether they will just be beautiful (with enormous plastic nails and eyelashes!) until death.

Me and my best friend grew up together from the age of four.

We sometimes go out in the town we went to school in and marvel at the polish beauty of the teenagers.

We do enjoy a good laugh at the teenage 'us' though - what were we thinking??!!

Polished beauty...

CaringCarer, crikey, how old are you? “No orthodontists” when you were young?!
My NHS dentist referred me to an NHS orthodontist for braces in 1964!

The only thing that is different is how fat so many of them are, but I do think it's so positive that they still wear what they want and take care of themselves rather than hiding away.

Yes it definitely appears far more acceptable to just let everything hang out these days - flimsy tops with no bras, cycling shorts a size too small. Definitely wouldn't have been something we'd do. We were all about the tit tape and nipple covers to keep things in place and discreet if a top required no underwear

My teen DC's have far better skin care products than I had 30 years ago.
Even Primark has a good budget range of skincare with SPF.

I really agree with this. Kids in a town 20 miles from us all seem to have a wholesome glow.

Access to costly out of school sports, holidays abroad and nutritious food really sets them apart from the kids in my town.

I love the kids in my neighbourhood - they chat to me and make me laugh. They are lovely.

@SpartacusNotEsther - I was going to mention that video too! Maybe we just remember our peers with their spots and dorky hair and today's kids look more stylish in comparison, although I can't say I've noticed kids being better looking, though I do see that dentistry and skincare improvements have helped, I don't as often see kids with really terrible skin these days.

I disagree! I think a lot of them look the same now and there’s no real beauty or character to many of them.

a huge amount of them are overweight and they don’t look that intelligent for want of a better word. So no.

I don't know. DC1 and I look very, very similar - same bone structure, colouring, hair thickness, etc.
He recently had a class photo and coincidently someone had shared mine from about the same time of life on Facebook. In mine most of my class are better looking than me but in his he's better looking than most of his class.

I know that's not a very scientific measure of standards of attractiveness as I'm his mum and so obviously think he's the most wonderful thing to walk on the surface of the earth in its 4 billion year history 🤣

A lot of the girls look quite similar now. Many with long hair and the same eyebrows.

when I was a teen (2000s) a lot of girls had awfully cut pixie crops, or dyed jet black hair that washed out their skin and everyone wore lilac / baby blue eyeshadow whether it suited them or not. And barely any eyebrows

Teens definitely have better hairstyles than we had. Think straighteners help with that! They also know how to apply makeup better due to the constant stream of YouTube videos.

My younger 2 are primary age and there's definitely a wide range there

This in spades. I find the idea of kids worrying about tanning very depressing. They should just be allowed to be kids. I remember being on holiday on the Algarve 10 years ago and there was a mother putting suncream on her daughter of about 7 or 8. The little girl said "not to much mummy, I don't want to be white".

I have noticed the girls look very much the same too. STraightened hair, the same makeup, tight short clothes. It's a very manufactured look IMO . They do look attractive I suppose, but I doubt there will be a sudden surge in supermodels from this generation compared to any other. It seems to me they just feel they have to try harder to look their best all of the time, which I think is a little bit sad really. They are all terrified of someone posting a bad photo of them on SM when it comes down to it.

I don't think children / teens looks have changed I just think there is more grooming these days .

In my day we were all pretty much natural and fresh faced and you had really pretty people and ordinary and plain people and I don't think that's changed other than they do more grooming and make up than previously . We didn't have Dyson Airwraps for big glossy hair in my day lol

You can't compare photos these days as most of them are filtered so much you wouldn't recognise them if you walked past them in the street!

No, not at all. But maybe more children have their hair cut professionally rather than by Mum. Also, young people have amazing skin which you only notice when you are no longer young 😂

I do see beauty in young people, especially children, they are fresh and joyful and funny. But no, not necessarily “good looking”.

When I was young I didn’t have a clue about fashion or how to do my hair etc, I didn’t really have friends and no YouTube to learn from so my hair was always a frizzy mess and looking back my dress sense was horrendous.

These says kids can always fall back on social media if they’re short of friends.

you do still see ugly kids though, especially toddlers <gets hard hat ready>

To me it feels like young people now are almost a different species! Taller, more confident than I ever was, and beyond beautiful. It's astonishing

The one thing I notice is that kids don’t have terrible acne anymore thank goodness. I can’t recall seeing anyone with a real face full of spots for a long time which can only be a good thing. Also kids who don’t have orthodontics are absolutely the exception, plus glasses have come on so far and hair products! I don’t think kids are better looking but they are able to make the most of themselves in a way we weren’t able to