Spa treatments for kids raise waxed eyebrows

Tamara Smith and her daughters have been visiting the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio for several years.  Four years ago Hill Country opened a separate spa for youth called The SPAhhhT. Twelve-year-old Kailey Smith is a big fan.

“It’s really colorful in there and the people are so nice and polite. The treatments are really good,” says Kailey. She’s had manicures, pedicures, massages and facials. Next trip she’s planning a massage and a pedicure. “I like those best. They’re really relaxing.”

Kailey’s mom says the spa is about family fun and good health. Both of her daughters play sports, and she’s an avid golfer. Smith recently played two 18-hole rounds of golf back to back, for example.

“My muscles were sore and it made me feel good to get a massage. It’s the same for my daughters. They don’t do this all the time but when they do it’s not all about being Little Miss Prissy Pants. Massage is great for the body, and the skin and nail care leads to basic good hygiene.”

Health benefits of massage
Maureen A. Moon, a massage and bodywork therapist in Boulder, Colo., and a spokeswoman for the American Massage Therapy Association, agrees that spa services should not be discounted as all hair weaves and fluff. Research has shown that massage, for example, decreases stress hormones.

“With the amount of athletics, music and computer kids do now, massage makes sense,” Moon says. “Of course, you have to get them away from computer and get them outside, but human touch is also so good for them.”

Moon says she takes the opportunity to teach kids about their bodies, and she notes that children are naturally fascinated with the massage process. “They ask about every stroke and they go back and show their parents.” It’s a different world from the one she grew up in but, according to Moon, it’s a better world. “This is really healthy touch that families didn’t have at one point.”

Many spas insist that their aim is to encourage health and fun, not vanity. Eclips Kids, for example, has begun preteen workshops that cover hair and skin care, clothing choices, proper nutrition and exercise, as well as arts and crafts workshops such as jewelry-making and crocheting.

“We want this to be a place where kids can come and have a positive experience all around,” Robinson says. “All of the celebrities these days are so thin and everyone is obsessed with looks. Mothers are concerned about it with their girls and we want to help with that in some way.”

A healthy focus, or a vain one?
Texas mom Tamara Smith says a spa can indeed fit into healthy parenting as long as it’s used in the right spirit. “I see some moms and some girls where it’s all about how you look and what others think of the way you look,” she says. “In our house we don’t stress looks much. I say if getting a massage or your nails done makes you feel good, do it. But it’s not about appearances.”

Dr. Jeannie Huang, a University of California, San Diego, researcher who has studied body image and health programs for children, agrees. “If the reason you’re going to a spa is about appearance, body shape, weight … that’s where you run into problems. If you focus on health, (a spa experience) can be fine.”

After her parents spent nearly $5,000 on a birthday party this year at the posh Four Seasons Hotel and Spa in Westlake Village, Ashley Cappo says she still likes the spa but she’s a bit over it.

“Next birthday I’m thinking an overnight trip to Disneyland might be fun,” she says. “Or, maybe we could go to SeaWorld and swim with the dolphins!”

Victoria Clayton is a freelance writer based in California and co-author of "Fearless Pregnancy: Wisdom and Reassurance from a Doctor, a Midwife and a Mom," published by Fair Winds Press.

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