Super-Thin Models: Controversy Grows

Spanish Fashion Show Bans Them; British Counterpart Doesn't

(CBS/AP)  The Duchess of Windsor once famously said that a woman can't be too rich or too thin.

But, says CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, not any more — at least if she's a model aspiring to the catwalk in Madrid.

Ultra-thin models, the so-called size zeros, have been banned by organizers of Madrid's Fashion Week. The country's top annual fashion show starts Monday.

But in London, whose Fashion Week also gets under way Monday, organizers are shying away from a ban, arguing that ultra-thin doesn't necessarily mean unhealthy.

"Some people," organizer Philip Greene told Palmer, "want to put on weight, some people want to take off weight; I'd rather look at it (as) people want to be comfortable in what they wear."

A British Cabinet minister had called Saturday for London Fashion Week to follow Madrid's lead.

"The fashion industry's promotion of beauty as meaning stick thin is damaging to young girls' self image and to their health," Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said in a statement. "Young girls aspire to look like the catwalk models. When those models are unhealthily underweight, it pressurizes girls to starve themselves to look the same."

But the British Fashion Council, which runs Fashion Week, said in a statement that it "does not comment or interfere in the aesthetic of any designer's show."

"The BFC has canceled the photo call on Sunday because it is unwilling to add any more impetus to the publicity surrounding this complicated issue," it added.

Across the U.K., Palmer observes, fashion's starved look is a hot issue.

Critics argue that it's dangerous because fashion models are also role models, especially for teenage girls.

Yet, adds Palmer, even as the fashion ideal is getting thinner, it seems real British women are getting more voluptuous. In the past 50 years, on average, they've added an inch-and-a-half to both bust and hips, and almost six inches to their waists.

In Spain, Fashion Week organizers on Saturday rejected five models for being too thin to appear in this year's event.

The show, known as the Pasarela Cibeles, had decided earlier this month not to allow women below a predetermined body mass index to parade down the catwalk.

Doctors Susana Monereo of Spain's National Endocrinology Society and Basilio Moreno, an obesity consultant at Gregorio Maranon Hospital, were among the specialists called on to medically assess the models.

Five of the 68 models who showed up for appraisal failed the test, the doctors said. The models were over 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed less than 121.25 pounds, Monereo said.

"They had a body mass index below, well below, that which is considered normal not just by the Spanish endocrinology society, whom we represent, but also by the limits set by the World Health Organization," Monereo said.

Each model was allowed to appear at the examination accompanied by an agent and a representative from the fashion industry.

The show wanted to project an image of beauty, elegance and health, and also banned makeup that makes models appear sickly, organizer Cuca Solana said.

"Clearly we don't want walking skeletons," Solana said.

Some well-known models had not gone to the examination, Solana said, but they were not identified.

Around 300 models originally were expected to apply for inclusion in the prestigious fashion event, but only 68 applied this year.

Solana said the rigorous pre-show test was not necessarily the cause for the downturn. One possibility was that model agencies may have chosen to send more models to other shows.

Last year's show drew protests from medical associations and women's advocacy groups because some of the models were positively bone-thin.

This time, the Madrid regional government decided to pressure organizers to hire fuller-figured women as role models for young girls obsessed with being thin, Concha Guerra, deputy finance minister of the regional administration, said earlier this month.

The body mass index is a calculation doctors normally apply to study obesity. It is calculated by dividing weight in pounds by height in inches squared, and multiplying that total by 703.

If the resulting number is between 18.5 and 24.9, a person's weight is normal. Below 18.5 they are underweight. In the case of the Madrid show, organizers rejected women with an index below 18.

[djzenith]

while i agree size-zero is bad. unfortunately, the world is becoming obese. thanks mcdonald's and burger king.

while body-issue is important and women suffering from low self-esteem is serious, what's more serious is the growing obesity world-wide.

people talk about booze as a crutch and drugs, but what about food.

as a women who now ways 105 pounds and used to way 200, i can tell you it's a problem.

the problem is people are putting garbage into their bodies and enjoy doing so. people grow up with no sense of exercise. they drive everywhere.

my secret? i eat whatever i want and stop when i'm full. period.

i moved to a city where i can walk everywhere and i do. i realize that's not an option for some, but a thought.

what's the other issue? glad you asked. people are too shallow. too focused on the outside. women think if they are skinny, their husband will love them.

the world puts too much value on what's on the outside and not enough on what's on the inside. really, what matters is being a good person.

i'm flying to new orleans in mid-january to help with the reconstruction. more people should worry about *that* than their weight.

[rugratz2222]

Yes, the world is getting bigger, but it is a problem where a girl is too large while she is still growing naturally and she sees Kate Moss who is a stick and knows she is that way from drugs and unhealthy practices and young girl wonders if she can get skinny real quick by doing the same ... don't believe it? drugs are big busy for teenagers and smoking stats show that thousands of teenagergs are starting smoking every DAY. And other people have rejected stopping smoking for fear of GAINING WEIGHT, not because the smoking can cause cancer or lung problems. THAT is skewed thinking as well!

Small changes in eating can make a big difference: my own daughter at 12 decided to cut out fries and eat smaller burgers ... less breads ... and she dropped about 25 to 30 lbs. We monitor her and she has had doctor's exams and she is very healthy now. But it took about 5 months. It did not come on overnight so it cannot be dropped overnight as well.

[slippert]

Hooray! I'm am so totally excited. If the United States would only follow through on something like this. The models today look horrible. They are simply too thin and have been for years. And the sad truth is our daughters are trying to emulate them. Spain, my hat is off to you. It's the boldest thing I have ever heard of and the most intelligent move to hopefully move our nations to doing the right thing for our young girls.

[vcernadas]

It is about time... because just as morbidly obese people are gross to look as, so are walking coathangers....

I think that it is about time to advocate health and balance instead of living in the extremes...

Viva!

[cassica-2009]

I understand they think they are doing the right thing, but to me it only encourages discrimination. They are doing exactly the same as thier counterparts and not including some one because of their weight. I am 5 feet 8 inches tall and weigh 119 pounds, i feel it is unfair that i should now be excluded from a fashion show. I maintain a healthy diet, work out and live life in moderation, why should i be punsihed for this?