When thin is just way too thin

November 18, 2007 - 11:42 AM by Nicky

Let’s face it, it’s hard to like models. They strut about on the catwalk and are emblazoned across our streets, and magazines, and televisions, setting impossible standards of thinness and beauty that we just can’t hope to imitate.

Whatever our size or shape, we feel fat, and our kids feel fat. And that’s when the problems begin.

But after you’ve seen the pictures of once top Israeli model Hila Elmalich on CNN last week, it’s impossible to think of these girls as anything but victims.

Elmalich, who worked with the Israeli branch of famous modeling agency Elite, was rushed to hospital a few months ago suffering from anorexia. She was too weak to stand and was seen collapsing on the floor and in the arms of Israeli fashion photographer Adi Barkan who found her unconscious on the floor of her home.

She died last Wednesday, weighing just 66 lbs (30 kilos). That’s less than my nine-year-old weighs.

Barkan isn’t letting this go. And after you’ve seen the video, you’ll know why. A few months ago he set up a campaign to encourage the fashion industry to oust superthin models and use only ones with a healthy Body Mass Index. Now his crusade is bearing fruit. In the wake of Elmalich’s death, Elite has announced that it will set healthier body mass index requirements for their models.

See the video (appearing on CNN courtesy of a tip from ISRAEL21c) here:
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/1107/473488.html

Let’s hope this is the start of a responsible fashion industry.

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