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Barbie's latest inclusive doll praised by parents: 'To find a doll with scoliosis is amazing'

By Naomi White|

Mattel has taken another step towards inclusion, releasing a doll with scoliosis.

?The company has just debuted the Chelsea doll, who is Barbie's younger sister, showing her wearing a removable back brace.

Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine, most commonly detected in adolescence.

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The doll, Chelsea is Barbie's youngest sister and has scoliosis. (Mattel)

According to Healthy WA, the condition is more common in girls, with up to one in 15 developing some scoliosis during their growing period, between the ages of nine to 14. However, only around three in every 1,000 children will require treatment.

Where it is needed, a brace can be used to slow or stop the curvature by putting pressure on the spine in certain spots to stop it progressing.

The doll, which stands at just six inches tall, is smaller than the average Barbie, and is already being praised by parents for bringing more awareness to the condition.

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"?I bought this doll for my daughter after coming across it online. My daughter was born with scoliosis so to find a doll with scoliosis as well is amazing. When my daughter is old enough to understand why we go for yearly X-rays, she'll now have a friend to go with her and not feel so alone.

Thank you so much for creating this doll!," said one mum on Mattel's website.

"?My daughter has scoliosis and while she hasn't needed a back brace finding a doll like her means a ton to her. Thank you Mattel!," added another.

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Chelsea wears a removable back brace. (Mattel)

Executive vice president and global head of Barbie and Dolls at Mattel, Lisa McKnight, said the company 'believe in the power of representation' and wanted to make dolls that more kids could see themselves in.?

"We're proud to launch the first-ever Chelsea doll with a removable back brace to continue to be more reflective of the world kids see around them," she said.

?"Our Chelsea line provides infinitely more ways to spark storytelling, all while providing kids with a way to develop their empathy and social processing skills through doll play."

It's not the first of the company's Barbies to champion diversity. In 1997 Mattel released their first doll featuring a wheelchair, known as 'Share a smile Becky'.

It has since released dolls with a hearing aid, a prosthetic limb, as well as a Ken doll with vitiligo, a condition that causes white patches to appear on the skin.

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