Too Thin? Who Decides?

I think a lot of girls between 15 and 25 really just want guys to turn their head at them like they do when another extremely thin girl with fashion sense walks by. What they dont realize is that guys are going to turn their heads even if the woman they are with already looks like a super model. I think knowledge is power and it needs to start in school. We need to teach kids that it's not about being thin; that it's not okay to be underweight no matter who you are- it must go beyond teaching kids the food pyramid.

staci youre so wrong!!! guys don't like 'extremely thin' girls, guys like slim girls with curves - and there is nothing wrong with that!!! girls like guys with broad shoulders and six-packs (or at least i do) and there isnt anything wrong with that either! people need to stop feeling sorry for themselves and blaming the abstract world of 'media' for making them feel like shit about themselves... ive been there, done that, and trust me -- its about YOU and you can change it and it has nothing to do with some 5'8" runway skeleton

More nutritious backstage catering? So that better quality food will end up in the toilet? It's a good idea, but I'm all for heavy-handed laws at least until the fashion industry gets the message that it just isn't acceptable to encourage disordered eating.

Staci, you're obviously going out with the wrong kind of guys

It’s the fact some of these girls will be fired if they are not under weight.
There are guys who are not attracted to the super thin look most men like a little curve.

I don't think anything short of a BMI requirement will get models to be healthy. Obviously they are already doing some unhealthy things to stay at a low weight, but telling them they have an eating disorder, or educating them about eating disorders? I don't think it will work that well. They do this in high schools already, at least we had screening tests and talks at my school, and our class was rampant with eating disorders. In my experience, telling someone with anorexia that you think they have a problem doesn't do much good. They have to want it for themselves, and until then will usually be extremely stubborn. The fact is, anorexia is one of the most tricky disorders to treat. Unless faced with an ultimatum, I doubt much will change.

This industry just does not get it. Sadly, I predict that it will take a few more deaths of anorexic models until they are forced to figure out an effective way to deal with this issue.

i would like to see bmi requirements similar to those used in Madrid used in the U.S. I dont think theres anything wrong with that.

Well, a BMI of 16 is too thin, but the BMI system is obsolete. The new approach is the BFP system. Because you can have a BMI of 50, yet have a ton of muscles, you can be healthy at the rate. But even that may be obsolete, because you can have 15 percent fat, yet have a ton of fat when you have a ton of muscles.

So, they should focus on your waistline. This is a better focus, because if I have a waistline of 32 inches, have a high chest and upper-leg diamater, and have a BMI of 50, obiously the person has little fat and lots of muscle. That's how they should go from here.

I would think that for most people - the majority - the BMI system is pretty relevant. Most of us don't have such a large concentration of muscle that our numbers would be significantly higher. In general, underweight people like these models don't have a very high percentage of muscle.
I agree, waist size would be a better way to tell.

'They' can measure people any way 'they' want. It will not do much to change behaviors!
James, could you please get a better 'babble-fish' translator so when you translate from your language into english it makes a little more sense? Thankyou!

My daughters have a best friend...she is part of the family actually... fighting anorexia right now. She has gone from a size 9 to probably being a 1 or 0 now.All this in 7 months. She loves playing sports and can not anymore...she hasn't had her period in ?? ...she has been in rehab and now is back home and still not gaining weight. We have to change our view of beauty...beauty is deep inside of all of us. Emotions and depression run rampid with our kids today.
It's not only runway models...its every clothing catalog for young girls that you get in the mail.
Thanks for giving me a place to vent.

kjahfklsdj said:
staci youre so wrong!!! guys don't like 'extremely thin' girls, guys like slim girls with curves - and there is nothing wrong with that!!! girls like guys with broad shoulders and six-packs (or at least i do) and there isnt anything wrong with that either! people need to stop feeling sorry for themselves and blaming the abstract world of 'media' fo[...]

Sorry but I have to disagree - You say there's nothing wrong with "slim girls with curves". In my opinion, a "slim girl with curves" is a Victoria's Secret model. They're definitely not "thin", at least curvier than high fashion couture models, but they're still as slim as hell. Sure, there most definitely is nothing wrong with being slim with curves, but you tell me how easy it is to have a slim body WITH curves in the RIGHT PLACES.

CP--how easy is it to have a slim body with curves in the right places? One word: Implants. At least half the Victoria's Secret models have them. Most women who are skinny don't really have much for boobs. Some do, but they are few and far between. Which is probably why Giselle Bundchen is one of the few women out there that can actually model lingerie.

I would be interested if anyone can come up with some authoritative stats on BMI of catwalk models. There is a lot of misinformation in mainstream media. If it really was 16 then the spanish ban (must be BMI 18 or over) would result in half (or so) of models being banned.

It actually resulted in about 30% being turned away.

All this talk of what men like in a woman (or vice-versa ) is very much from a personal point-of-view. If you watch too much of certain kinds of TV or whatever you're gonna believe that everyone should look like Hollywood. It's easy to be fooled by the plastic fantastic.

If a man likes you because you have "curves" - then what happens if/when you lose the curves? Or gravity hits and the curves become "sags"?

There ain't no photoshop in real life.

I think when people are quoting the average as being BMI 16, they are averaging out the most famous models in the business, or the suggested stats modeling agencies work with. And in Madrid, you had only 30% being turned away because in reality, the girls who are slightly "fatter" are cheaper to hire, so most designers will hire a couple of the more famous girls and a lot of the nondescript, cheaper ones. I'm guessing these 30% were probably also the hottest names out there.

Avia4, I hope your daughters' friend can recover.

While I agree with you that it is not just runway models or even just models or celebrities, I think that taking a stand like that, by saying "Yes, *there is* such a thing as too thin", could send a powerful message to young girls. And it could save the lives of many victims, cause these models keeping their weight so low are victims of this industry.

I think they need more drastic laws. Some guys have different tastes. Some like thin model type or likes girls with some meat on their bones.
The idea of 'beauty' does have to change. It really shouldn't be how you look on the outside anyway. The media is to blame somewhat because they don't portray a realistic view of a real women. Even bigger men are portrayed as the "loveable bear". Unfortunately, young kids look up to the Olsen twins, models, and those skinny stars. The modeling and show business industry have to portray more realistic women and become a real role model to women. A healthy BMI should be a must to work in show business.

While I agree that the BMI scale is definitely not the only measure of health, it does favor the taller people over the shorter ones. Jan, I think you can agree with me on this one...us short people don't have height on our side to make the BMI thing work out right. When I got down to 105 lbs or so by running a lot, I wasn't technically underweight, but my husband did tell me I looked "freaky and bony" and you could see all my ribs, even though I had good muscle tone and wasn't underweight. I think a lot of the models out there are really tall and because of that, they probably can have a BMI of 19 or so and still look really skinny. Especially if they have no muscle mass, which many of them don't have.

wow, I know plenty of girls at work that are thin and have curves (in your case u r talking about boobs) and they dont have implants. since I was 16, I've been 5'9', thin (used to have trouble gaining weight no matter how much I ate) and was a 34C.

Terri, you are in the lucky few. Whenever you think of a celebrity that is thin and has boobs, it is usually someone that is struggling to keep their weight low (Tyra Banks and Jennifer Love Hewitt are 2 examples of this: both filled out quite a bit, and only managed to keep the "thin with curves" body type in their teens), or it is someone like Gisele, whose boobs are fake.

Spectra, that is true, the BMI is even more failed for really short or really tall people. I'm short and big-boned, which is an unusual combo, so I looked a bit underweight with a BMI of 21.8. But what freaks me out is then you have someone like Carolyn Murphy, with a BMI of 18, and while she looks pretty thin, she is still quite a lot bigger than most other models out there. So I think our perceptions have become so warped that when we see a girl like the one in the picture there and are shocked, how low must her BMI be? 15? 14? That is what scares me. Because we are so used to BMIs 17 and 18 that they look normal and even "healthy" and "curvy" to us.

I like big butts and I cannot lie...

Most non-"encultured stupid" men would prefer a meaty (muscular) girl, with healthy body fat percentage (18-22%).

Ass, tits, thighs, hello! But most "hot" girls I see these days look like shit.

"Dude, where's your body?"

Interesting article today on fox news. Spain has limited window displays to a size 8 mannequin! http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jan24/0,4670,SpainFashionCampaign,00.html

Claire S. said:
I don't think anything short of a BMI requirement will get models to be healthy. Obviously they are already doing some unhealthy things to stay at a low weight, but telling them they have an eating disorder, or educating them about eating disorders? I don't think it will work that well. They do this in high schools already, at least we had screenin[...]

Are you an adult and did you go to a big or small school? Just wondering cause i am a kid with an eating disorder, and not sure i want peeps to find out.

BMI is such shit.

basically its all about averages..so lets say you take 9 obese people with a bmi or 30..and one slim person with a bmi or 16..that means the average perfect weight should be 29..all the fat/overweight people in america are throwing off the average

so why is this bmi thing so talked about and relied on?

we all know the answer

the higher the bmi for a healthy person the happier fat people are because theyre supposedly "healthy" and the skinnier normal people are portrayed as "underweight"

since america is the 2nd most obese country in teh world (china is first)..that means theres a lot of fat people buying food from companies who profit..the more skinny people there are the less money these companies make

right now we're in a time where everyones pretending to care about making skinny models normal but by the time a fat person is on the cover of vogue a couple times and after some celebrities say how horribly skinny these girls are, this thing will blow over and the fashion inddustry will be back to prying on fatties and makign them feel insecure etc etc etc..the important people up there, teh few of them, dont give a shit about fatties or anorexics..they just have money in mind..and so far its working perfectly

jej, i suggest you learn how BMI is actually calculated before opening your mouth because you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. This sight might be helpful to you.

http://www.whathealth.com/bmi/formula.html

Occording to the NIH, CDC, and NHS a healthy BMI for women is between 18.5 and 24.9 or 25.

BMI has nothing to do with average weight of a group. If 9 out of 10 women stranded on a desert island had a BMI of 16, and one a BMI of 19, 9 of them would still be considered underweight and 1 would be in normal range. Fat americans may be throwing of what is average but that does not effect BMI.

It's true that western countries are increasingly having problems with obesity, but eating disorders are dangerous either way - whether its binge eating or not eating.

I would be interested to know where you found data indicating China to be the most obese country because I have not found any report in agreement with that.

Several things come to mind:
1) Yes eating disorders are a problem, and efforts to help those afflicted are necessary, as well as preventative measures.
2) Not all very thin models have eating disorders. As much as it may stink for the rest of us, some people are just built that way.
3) By personal experiance backstage food isn't nutritious, and there is no harm in producers providing healthy food.

Well I say that an average weight and hieght standard should be put into action. For example in the US MArine Corps a Female who is 63" needs to wiegh in at between 104-136 lbs. This range is concidered healthy. I think a hight/weight ratiuon standard would be apropriate.

different men like different body types. If a man really loved you he wouldn't care what weight you are, but people usually believe skinny is better. Fashion icons such as victoria beckham and the olsen twins are an example of this. I congratulate people like nicole richie and mischa barton who are coming out of the skinny craze

It has nothing to do with what men desire. It has to do with 1). women's body image that sells fashion magazines, 2). how that image it translated as the ideal that is spread across all genres of media. Hundreds of years ago, a buxom woman was considered highly desireable. Women need to change their idea of their own body image and what they consider beautiful. In these days of extremes, obesity versus skeletal remains, we need a healthier perspective of the female form. We need to not buy into the media and insist on 1). not buying those fashion magazines that promote women that look like they will die in a day or two, 2). not buy clothes from designers who insist on hiring only skeletal women and 3). educate your daughters, wifes, mothers, sisters on a healthier perspective.

alot of people are fatter now days and slim people are becoming fewer in nmuber. can you belive the average american woman is 5'4 and 152 pounds witch gives her a bmi of 26.1 witch is considered overwieght.then slim girls are considerd ill because were not bolloning out like the good year blithp. and the problem is worthless insecure strait men are just jealous because they know there ugly so they put other down. truth is all guys are going to be stuck with an obese women but it don't brother me none. because at least slender girls like me won't be brothered by their worthless asses the truth is all guys just like morbdally obese hookers. all of us slim girls should rise up and destroy them