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Professional News
Published Online: 2 February 2007

New Guidelines Hoped to Reduce Eating Disorders Among Fashion Models

Publication: Psychiatric News
Volume 42, Number 3
https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.42.3.0010a
The Academy for Eating Disorders, an international professional organization concerned with research, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders, issued guidelines in January aimed at the fashion industry, with the goal of improving the health of fashion models and preventing illness and death resulting from eating disorders. Among them:
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Adopt an age threshold requiring that models be at least 16 years old to reduce the pressure that adolescent girls feel to conform to the prevasive, ultra-thin standard of female beauty.
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For women and men over age 18, adopt a minimum body mass index (BMI) threshold of 18.5 (a female model who is 5' 9” must weigh more than 126 pounds, for example).
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Adopt a medical-certification requirement to affirm that aspiring models do not suffer from an eating disorder and/or related medical complications.
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For female and male models between the ages of 16 and 18, adopt a BMI minimum of 17.4 for female models and 17.7 for male models.
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Develop processes to identify models in need of intervention and to refer them to clinicians who can help them.
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Discourage all nonhealthy weight-control behaviors throughout the industry, such as self-induced vomiting and use of laxatives, diuretics, and diet pills.
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Provide educational initiatives for aspiring and working student models, professional models, and their agents and employers to raise awareness of the multiple health risks of low weight and restricted nutritional intake.
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Increase communication with advertising agencies to encourage them to use age-appropriate, realistic models in ad campaigns and reduce unrealistic computer enhancement in preteen and adolescent advertising campaigns.
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Include models of varying weights and body types on both the catwalk and in fashion magazines.
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Collaborate with politicians, stakeholders, and eating-disorder organizations to develop ethical self-regulatory codes for the fashion industry.
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Collaborate with politicians, stakeholders, and eating-disorder organizations to widen the availability and affordability of eating-disorder treatments.

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Psychiatric News
Volume 42 • Number 3 • February 2, 2007
Pages: 10

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Published online: 2 February 2007
Published in print: February 2, 2007

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