Italy, fashion industry combat anorexia
ROME --A month after the death of an anorexic model in Brazil, Italy's government and fashion industry on Friday adopted a voluntary code aimed at promoting a more "generous" look for women.
Under the pact, Italy's highly competitive fashion industry agreed not to hire models younger than 16. The industry also promised to add larger sizes to their collections and require models to submit medical proof they do not suffer from eating disorders.
"There's a boundary between a thin girl and a sick one that is often trespassed," Youth Policy and Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri told a news conference in Rome. "Italy, with this manifesto, is committed to recognize this boundary and not trespass it."
The code, signed by Melandri and Mario Boselli, president of the Italian Fashion Chamber, called on the industry to encourage women to embrace "a healthy, sunny, generous, Mediterranean model of beauty." It will apply to stylists, model agencies, makeup artists and other fashion professionals.
The world of high fashion and modeling has long been criticized for encouraging women and girls to emulate skinny models.
Doctors and psychologists treating patients with anorexia nervosa, a disorder characterized by an abnormal fear of becoming overweight, praised the new Italian code, saying it would help redefine beauty standards.
Last month's death of the 21-year-old Brazilian model focused public concern on the problem.
Ana Carolina Reston, who had worked for several modeling agencies in China, Turkey, Mexico and Japan, died Nov. 14 at a hospital in Sao Paulo. The 5-foot-8 inch model weighed 88 pounds at the time of her death.
"The message that we get bombarded with is that you are important and successful as long as you are thin, but these women do not represent the real ones," said Simona Ciampoli, a psychotherapist who treats anorexic people in a rehabilitation center in Chieti, central Italy.
In September, Madrid's Fashion Week banned models with a body mass index of less than 18. Body mass index is a calculation doctors normally apply to study obesity, and anyone with an index below 18.5 is considered underweight.
