Fashion Industry and Eating Disorders in the News...Again

A number of weeks ago I wrote a blog entry on the revelation that the Madrid fashion show had banned models with a BMI under 18, which is generally considered underweight.

The Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) has gone much further than a ban, providing extensive guidelines it would want the fashion industry to adopt. In particular, the AED suggests that eating disorder intervention be proactive, giving attention to identifying models who need assistance and providing education to prospective models.

The guidelines also suggest an "overall ban" on digital enhancement of pictures to make models look slimmer. You may recall another blog entry on Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty that provided access to a video of the process used to make a model look "good enough" to appear on a billboard. I watched this short piece fairly comfortably, watching makeup being applied and hair changes made, until the image was frozen and I saw the model's face digitally reshaped, with her features moved around to seem more pleasing. At that moment the process somehow seemed violating to the model in a way that foundation and eye liner do not.

As with most independent initiatives, these guidelines will probably serve as conversation starters for now. If support gathers momentum, the legal and ethical issues associated with regulating who can and cannot be a model and what can and cannot be used in advertising are likely to create battles from water coolers to federal courts. Yet the need for reform is genuine and, as recent events suggest, urgent.

What's your opinion? If these guidelines would improve the overall health of women in the modeling industry, would they be worth pursuing?

What Is a Healthy Weight?
Risk Factors for Eating Disorders
Anorexia Statistics
Bulimia Statistics