The French Parliament passed a bill banning the agency use of undernourished fashion models.
For years the issue of excessively thin models has been a debate. Attention has been brought to the ongoing debate after countries such as Spain, Italy, Israel, and Madrid being the first, prohibited the use of extremely thin models. Socialist lawmaker Olivier Veran wrote the amendments for France new law on super skinny models. Some 30-40,000 people in France suffer from anorexia, most of them teenagers, said Veran, who is a doctor. The 34-year-old neurologist wrote the law to aid in the prevention of eating disorders. This is great because fashion models can insinuate a more healthy image. Veran’s body image manifesto says that French modeling agencies can not hire models who’s BMI is at most 18. Agencies who fail to adhere to these ruling will be fined £54,000 Euros or $79,000. Violations can even leave staff involved, sentenced up to six months in jail.
“In the bill, I suggest that from now on, a model must go through a medical visit before she is hired which would evaluate the Body Mass Index (BMI) which is calculated by dividing the weight over the height square and this index is used by the World Health Organization to determine if someone is undernourished or even in a state of famine and I suggest that the medical certificate for work ability can not be delivered to people who are undernourished and who therefore are putting their life and health in danger,” Veran said.
No doubt about it, Veran’s proposal obviously has good intentions yet, the BMI standard may not be the best approach towards indicating “healthy weight”. BMI is not such a good measurement for healthy weight. The pros are that its easier and faster for doctors to measure, Body Mass Index. It’s also less expensive compared to a Dual Energy Scan or X-ray absorbancy images which measure bone density. There’s also CT scans and MRIs that essentially provide a clearer look at the body’s makeup by separating out the fat from the muscle, according to Time Magazine. The cons of using BMI to measure are that BMI can’t distinguish between fat and muscle, which tends to be heavier and can tip more toned individuals into overweight status, even if their fat levels are low. Therefore, a healthy person that works out and has less fat may be measure as overweight since muscle is denser than fat. Claire Mysko, Director of Programs for the U.S. National Eating Disorders Association, stated that BMI is not an accurate measure of health. Mysko said the intentions behind such legislation are “good,” but what is really needed is a holistic screening process that includes an assessment of attitudes and behaviors toward food, weight and body image.
As reported by Womans Enews. an estimated 20 million woman will experience and eating disorder within their lifetime and yet federal funding for research is minimal compared to mental disorders such as Schizophrenia that afflict far fewer people. For example, about 2.2 million people suffer from schizophrenia, and the National Institutes of Health designates approximately $268 million annually toward research in that area. Yet 30 million people are afflicted by eating disorders, and only $34 million is spent each year on eating disorders research. (Womans Enews) Isabelle Caro was a French fashion model who passed away 2007 after posing nude in a campaign, exposing her gaunt body to raise awareness about her anorexia disease. It’s important to use stories such as Isabelle Caro as lessons. Representation matters!
Representation is important to a business, organization, corporation, or public figure. The million dollar advertisements and investments into promotions can have a misleading message. Magazines and billboards that portray unnatural figures give thousands of woman and children feelings of low self-esteem and a depleting body image. According to ANAD A full 95 percent of the Americans who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25, and the majority of those people report that their unhealthy relationship with food began before they turned 20. “It’s important for fashion models to say that they need to eat well and take care of their health, especially for young women who look to the models as an aesthetic ideal,” Health Minister Marisol Touraine
Healthy living needs to be promoted more in order to systematically approach each individuals ideal weight, a healthy weight. A healthy life style which consists of the fundamental nutrients, exercise, and not limited to daily meditation