VARIOUS: With the death of a Brazilian model from anorexia, there is renewed focus on the issue of underweight models in national and international media.

The issue of anorexia came to the spotlight once again in Latin America after a 21-year-old Brazilian fashion model died from the disease last week. The death of model Ana Carolina Reston, follows growing criticism of the use of underweight models in the fashion world, an issue given new significance after the death in August of Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos of heart failure during a fashion show in Montevideo. Brazilian media has given major attention to the topic after Reston's career was cut short by an eating disorder that increasingly affects millions of girls throughout the world. In an attempt to tackle to issue of anorexia, model agencies and fashion show organizers have been taking harsher measures. In September, Spain caused a storm in the fashion world when Madrid barred models below a certain weight from its top fashion show. Models with a body-mass-index (BMI), which takes into account height and weight, of less than 18 were banned. Reston's BMI was just 13.5 while the World Health Organization considers anyone with a BMI below 18.5 underweight and a BMI of 15 as an indicator of starvation. Bruna Menegotto, a model of Elite agency, said it is common for girls who enter the fashion universe to face difficulties when they are turned down after job tests, because many believe they may be fat and try to lose weight at any cost. "(a model) Goes to a test, gets a "no" and thinks: oh my God I'm ugly, I have to lose weight, I'm not well, they didn't want me for the job. But it's not that, everybody gets a "no" for a job. When (models) are younger they still don't have that conscience, they aren't used to it," she said. A representative of Elite model agency in Rio de Janeiro, Luis Lobo, said that banning models from fashion shows may be an emergency measure, but that it is more important to change in an effective way the rules existent in the fashion universe today. "It (referring to banning of models over a certain weight) can work at the moment, but what will be the duration of this prohibition, until when will it be effective. We need to change in a certain way the route of these people's work, of the brands, of the designers, of the models, of the agencies," he said. When eating disorders are detected, it is very important to have medical and physiological orientation in order to treat the patient. Nutritionist Ana Paula Guimaraes said anorexia lowers the person's immune system, causing losses of potassium and calcium, which may lead to a heart failure and result in death. "It lowers the immune system, so the person increases their risk of infection . There is an significant loss of teeth, the hair becomes dry, there is a loss of electrolytes, of potassium, of calcium, and the lowering of calcium may generate a heart failure and death," she said. Other Latin American countries have been focusing on the matter as anorexia has become a growing concern of the modern world. In Colombia, where the issue of anorexia has also been receiving notice, designer Silvia Tcherassi spoke of the subject hours before a fashion show. Tcherassi said that not only fashion designers, but photographers and advertising campaigns are also to blame when the issue is anorexia, because girls are exposed to the images of women who do not exist in reality. "More than designers, I would also include the photographers and advertising campaigns because with only one button, they "photoshop" and change the image of a woman. They erase the cellulite, take away the fat that normally woman may have, take away the skin lines, take away the cellulite, stretch legs in an incredible way simply by moving a button. So all the girls are looking at an image of a woman that doesn't exist, while in the runways we are seeing a woman that exists, a real woman. But the majority of these girls, from what I have seen with my own eyes, have a photo on their refrigerator of an advertising campaign with which they want look like and it ends up that this woman is not real," she said. Meanwhile in Argentina, country with one of the highest rates of anorexia in the world, the struggle of young girl has also aroused public attention to the issue. Jimena Nievas is 21 years old, but currently dying in hospital because she refuses to eat. She only weighs 28 kilograms, but she still believes that she is overweight. Her doctors say she is putting herself in grave danger. "She is lucid and perfectly aware if the time and her surroundings, but importantly what stands out is that she is not aware of the fact that she has a grave sickness that is compromising her life. She continues to believe that she is overweight and that she is looks physically bad and because of this she continues to insist that she does not want to eat. So therefore she is undoubtedly a high-risk patient that needs specialized treatment," said Dr. Julio Quevedo, director of the San Luis Health Clinic where Jimena was being treated. Ten days ago Jimena was rushed to the emergency ward after suffering a cardiac arrest, the result of her incredibly low body weight. On Monday (November 20, 2006) Jimena was being transferred to the Teodoro Schestakow Hospital in San Rafael in order to continue her treatment. "She is approximately 28 kilograms, so one could compare her with a child of 12 years of age," Dr. Quevedo said. Her mother, Nicolasa Nievas, says that it has been a long time since Jimena has had a proper meal, who of years has refused to look at herself in the mirror. "She has a distorted body image because she still says that she is fat, that she is overweight. Her body image is totally distorted," Jimena's mother Nicolasa said. Her parents are just trying to come to grips with this illness, that affects millions of women worldwide and is now affecting their daughter. "Recently over this last year I have seen more information in respect to the symptoms. I see that they all match my daughter's profile. That they lie and say that they are going to go to the doctor but they don't go and they change the appointment. They always say that they are eating but in reality they do not eat. They are deceptive. They lie." It was necessary to get a court approval to keep Jimena's in hospital after she recovered from her cardiac arrest, because she does not want to be treated for her anorexia.

ITN Source | November 26, 2006

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