Fashion show shuns skinny

MADRID, Spain – Spain’s top fashion show has turned away a slew of models on grounds they are too skinny – an unprecedented swipe at body images blamed for encouraging eating disorders among young people.

Organizers of the pageant, known as the Pasarela Cibeles, used a mathematical formula to calculate the models’ body mass index – a measure of their weight in relation to their height – and 30 percent of the women flunked, said the Association of Fashion Designers of Spain.

The association said Friday it wanted models at the show, running from Sept. 18-22, to project “an image of beauty and health” and shun a gaunt, emaciated look.

The decision was made as part of a voluntary agreement with the Madrid regional government, said Jesus del Pozo, a designer who is part of the association.

Last year’s show, also called Madrid Fashion Week, 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 intervene and pressure organizers to hire fuller-figured women as role models for young girls obsessed with being thin and prone to starving themselves into sickness, said Concha Guerra, deputy finance minister of the regional administration.

The body mass index is a tool for doctors who 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, the person’s weight is normal. Below 18.5 they are underweight. In the case of the Madrid show, organizers rejected women with indices under 18.