Toddlers and Tiaras and Self-Esteem

Recently a good friend of mine—a mother and grandmother—came totally and uncharacteristically unglued when she told me about a Toddlers and Tiaras (T&T) program she had seen. Her anger, directed at the mothers, was brutal. They feed their kids sugar cubes to keep them pumped up, spend thousands of dollars on over-the-top outfits, and seem oblivious to the damage done to their kids’ self-esteem.  My question was how do you know it hurt their self-esteem?