Nolita : No to anorexia

In my practical journalism class on friday we were looking into specialist journalism and I chose to do my 300 word article on the size zero debate. I am continuing it for my feature writing in the next two weeks and thought I'd post my original article here.

Billboards of a naked French actress who has suffered with anorexia for half her life have been unveiled in the campaign to stop size zero models being allowed on the catwalk.

Actress and model Isabelle Caro, 27, has been anorexic for 15 years and weighs less than five stone, and she hopes the shocking image commissioned by Italian fashion brand Nolita will make influential teenagers think twice about starving themselves to fit the UK size four frame.

The picture was unveiled to coincide with last month’s Milan Fashion Week, who last year prohibited any size zero model from appearing on their runways. The move came after the deaths of anorexic models Ana Carolina Reston and Luisel Ramos, who collapsed and died of a heart attack on the catwalk during a fashion show in Monterideo.

A 2007 report by the Model Health Enquiry suggested that four out of ten models are suffering from an eating disorder. But after London Fashion Week refused to withdraw the skinniest models from their catwalks, health organisations fear that their influences on admiring young British women will get further out of hand.

Models unnaturally maintaining a size zero body live on just 500 calories a day from the 1,500 set out as a guideline for women. They have a waist of 22 inches, the size of a seven year olds, and can suffer hair and teeth loss from the lack of nutrients in their body as well as being at severe risk of heart attacks and organ failure.

At her lowest point, Isabelle fell into a coma weighing only 25 kilos (3st 13lbs) and she hopes that her picture, photographed by Oliviero Toscani, might prevent other young women from following in her footsteps. She said: “If I had seen a campaign such as Toscani’s, I probably wouldn’t have become anorexic.”