Israel Bans Underweight Models From The Catwalk (Should Other Countries Follow?)

 



Photo: WENN

Some interesting news has come out of the Israeli fashion world: As of January 1, models who are underweight have been banned from walking the catwalk or appearing in advertisements. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies a person as underweight when they reach a BMI below 18.5. Along with this, advertisers are now required to print a disclaimer if the models were digitally altered.

This decision comes after an upwards trend of eating disorders among young people in Israel. Rachel Adatto, a local Israeli lawyer, politician, and the leader of creating this new initiative in Israel, told Daily Beast, “I helped develop this law in response to the epidemic of eating disorders I was seeing among our young people. So many girls are idolizing these models and wanting to look like them.”

It’s not just true of young girls in Israel, countries like Europe and the US face similar problems with issues like eating disorders and body image amongst it’s own citizens. The bigger issue, however, comes with how the issue is addressed. Banning underweight models from being working girls seems earnest in its intention, but is it the most viable solution in solving the larger eating disorder epidemic? Scientists are still debating.

“This is the subject of lots of speculation. There are people who feel society plays a large role, and there are others who say that it’s genetics and biology that play a big role in the development of eating disorders,” Walter Kaye told The Daily Beast, a psychiatrist and director of University of California, San Diego’s eating disorders clinic.

Although it’s hard to tell if this new law will be effective in the long-term, one small victory is that the new ban has started an open dialogue about eating disorders.

“This law has really gotten people talking,” Adatto told The Daily Beast. “Parents are talking about it, schools are talking about it, even kids themselves are talking about it. They are becoming more aware of what eating disorders are and what they look like. It’s been a helpful tool to start the discussion we need to have about eating disorders.”

Source StyleBlazer via The Daily Beast]