RSS Feed »Latest News: 30-11-2006
Ana Carolina Reston - Brazilian Model Dies from Anorexia
For some time now, catwalk organisers from around the world have been wondering whether they should ban models deemed to be too thin from their shows.
Perhaps their minds will be more firmly made up after the death of Ana Carolina Reston, a 21-year old Brazilian fashion model who died from anorexia on November 14th, 2006.
At 1.72 m (5'8"), she weighed only 40 kilograms (88 lbs.) with a body mass index of 13.5 when she died, after having existed on a diet of apples and tomatoes and being hospitalised for kidney malfunction.
A body mass index (BMI) of 17.5 or less is one of the criteria for a diagnosis of anorexia according to the World Health Organisation's classification system.
The Spanish Association of Fashion Designers took the decision to ban models with a BMI of less than 18 during its Madrid fashion week back in September.
Of course the desire to look like a model is not the only thing that leads to eating disorders. The portrayal of thin people in the public eye is just one of the contributory environmental variables.
Anorexia and bulimia are complicated diseases caused by many different interrelated environmental, personality and emotional factors, which vary across individuals.
Banning ultra thin models from catwalks is not going to eradicate eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia among models or the general public, but it will remove one of the triggers for these diseases.
One thing is for sure; the death of Ana Carolina Reston is bound to add to the controversy surrounding the use of very thin models on the World's catwalks.