French Parliament Suggests Law Banning 'Dangerously Thin' Models

The French Parliament approved a measure that would ban the use of dangerously thin female models on Friday in an attempt to discourage anorexia, which apparently affects up to 40,000 people in the country.

The measure was approved as part of a larger health bill that will go to the Senate this week is approved. While it only applies in France, it is being viewed internationally as a symbolic gesture to help wipe out the eating disorder in the fashion industry and annihilate the misrepresentation of average women in magazines.

The measure would prohibit anyone under a certain body mass index level (which would be determined later if the law is officially approved) from earning money as a model. Any person found below that level, or the modeling agency encouraging that ideal, would be fined up to $80,000 and face up to six months in prison.

“It’s just not about protecting the models but also the teenagers, because this body image pressure also affects them and contributes to the emergence of eating disorders and tendencies to eat less and less,” neurologist and legislator Olivier Veran said.

Veran added that the idea of the law isn’t to fine people, but to dissuade people in the modeling industry from making unhealthy choices.

Supporters of the law have claimed that the bill will target modeling agencies and aims to keep women in the industry from feeling pressure to lose weight. Some healthcare professionals, however, are concerned that it might be more difficult to diagnose and treat women with anorexia if the bill is made into law. A similar bill failed to pass through French legislation in 2008.

According to the World Health Organization, a body mass index under 18.5 is considered to be underweight.

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