Katherine Heigl has slammed reality show Dances Moms for "diminishing" the children's self-esteem.

The Hollywood actress took to her iVillage blog to voice her displeasure at how the young girls were treated on the show.

Katherine, who is mother to three-year-old daughter Naleigh, believes the show sends out a bad message to the little girls.

"I watched with open-mouthed amazement as girls as young as seven were encouraged to dress provocatively and shimmy around a stage doing a dance performance that could just as easily been a burlesque routine," she wrote.

"I kept thinking all these girls were missing is a pole! I was also horrified by the way their instructor spoke to them when she felt they weren't up to stuff.

"It was demeaning, belittling, and downright unkind."

Katherine added that she was concerned by "the amount of value we place on a woman's looks, body and ability to drop it like it's hot on the dance floor".

But the One For The Money star maintained that the young girls were "wonderfully talented" but just wished they were being "inspired, instructed and supported for their gifts" like she was.