Fashion Industry Takes Steps to Combat Eating Disorders in Models

By: Laurie Edwards for Body1

Earlier this year, the Council of Fashion Designers of America released recommended guidelines to help prevent anorexia, bulimia and smoking in models. Though they are seen as a step in the right direction, industry experts question if the voluntary guidelines are enough to stem the growing problem – and if New York's recent Fashion Week was any indication of how they are working, it may not be time to celebrate yet.

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Think you may have a problem or know someone who does? Know the major symptoms of different eating disorders: Anorexia is characterized by excessive weight loss and starvation and its symptoms include intense fear of being fat despite dramatic weight loss, refusal to maintain body weight, loss of menstrual periods, extreme concern with body shape, etc. Bulimia is characterized by a secretive cycle of binge eating and purging and its symptoms include repeated episodes of binging/purging through vomiting or laxatives, feeling out of control and eating beyond the point of feeling full, frequent dieting, abuse of diuretics and diet pills, etc. Binge Eating Disorder is characterized by the same types of out-of-control compulsive binges found in bulimics but without the purging. There may be frequent dieting and sporadic fasts as well as bouts of depression, anxiety and loneliness. See the National Eating Disorders Association’s website for more information.

The modeling industry has come under increasing scrutiny following the death of 21-year-old Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston from complications from anorexia last November; Reston weighed a mere 88 pounds.

“Eating disorders come from a combination of environment and genetic makeup,” said Dr. Sharon Alger-Mayer of Albany Medical Center. “Being exposed to an environment with a lot of emphasis on thinness can put someone with a predisposition to eating disorders in a very high-risk situation.”

The new guidelines ban models under 16 from working the runways, offer education about nutrition and eating disorders, provide healthy food backstage and prohibit alcohol consumption and smoking backstage.

Critics have questioned how effective voluntary guidelines can be in an industry known for its high incidence of eating disorders, especially guidelines that do not take into account body mass index (BMI), a benchmark measure of whether or not people are carrying a healthy weight. The World Health Organization classifies anyone with a BMI under 18.5 as underweight; last year, Madrid Fashion Week made international headlines when it banned models with BMIs of less than 18.

While a step forward in theory, in practice the guidelines do not appear to have made significant gains—at least not yet, anyway.

“What a shame, that it was such a big deal last season, and now nobody seems to have noticed that models have not gained an ounce,” said David A. Wolfe, creative director of The Doneger Group trend forecasters. He also pointed to the puffy sleeves and longer hemlines that dominated many of the spring styles, details that mask frail frames and “toothpick legs.”

The fashion industry in Milan enacted an outright ban of too-skinny models and required medical proof that they do not suffer from eating disorders. But of the four major world centers of fashion – the other three being New York, London and Paris – it is the only one to have taken such a step.

In part, experts say, status quo remains because the market demand hasn’t changed. Designers favor a certain look that works best on ultra-skinny models, and as long as that look is successful, there is little incentive to depart from it. “Until it starts becoming a financial issue where people stop buying their clothes because they're showing unattractive images, it's never really going to affect them,” said Debra Bass, a fashion editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Of course there are some designers who say they prefer models who are healthy: “You don’t want to hire somebody who looks hungry or like she’s starving herself,” said Tracy Reese.

Until that sentiment is widespread, the voluntary guidelines will remain what they are: a step in the right direction, but not a panacea for the eating disorder problem that is widespread in this industry.

Last updated: 05-Nov-07