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."
[via The Daily Beast]
Long overdue...
