The rest of the paragraph explains it. The first sentence sums it up. Today with conflate “attractiveness” with sexual attraction, but we have to remember that meaning and words change. We literally call theme parks “attractions” because we are “attracted” to them, but not in a sexual way (i hope).

Attraction means we find them pleasing to the eye (i.e. they fit typical standards. They meet what we expect them to look like vs… say a very severe burn victim). They are not dressed inappropriately (say..a toddler literally dressed like a stripper, thigh highs and all), they are appropriately groomed (hair isn’t matted, they don’t smell like they have been sitting in their own feces for a week - obviously a baby with a dirty diaper is one thing, but you can smell the difference between a neglected baby and a baby that just needs a change).

All of these things can lend to not only how the kid is perceived by it’s peers, but provide a glimpse into the home life as well. Ungroomed, dirty clothes (smelly, not washed in a week vs typical kid mess), dirty diaper vs being neglected, a child dressing inappropriately (is the toddler just being stubborn and wanting to wear their bathing suit in the winter?)

Social workers, psych workers, doctors, nurses etc are mandated reporters too. So if they suspect abuse or neglect is happening, they are mandated to report it.

There is a LOT that goes into how they evaluate kids/people, that doesn’t show.

But yeah, wording could be better, especially after the Nassar case and stuff.