Anorexia in France
The BMI Index level below which a model cannot go will not be decided until the bill becomes law. France’s News 24 wrote that it had previously been reported the law will stipulate that “models would have to present a medical certificate showing a BMI of at least 18, about 55 kg (121 lb) for a height of 1.75 metres (5.7 feet), before being hired for a job.”
“The activity of modeling is banned for any person whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is lower than levels proposed by health authorities and decreed by the ministers of health and labour,” the bill reads.
There are believed to be 30,000 to 40,000 anorexics in France and 90 percent are female. This proposed new law, part of a comprehensive health bill, is being introduced with a view not only to better the health of underweight models, but to prevent young girls from getting the wrong body image message.
Legislator and neurologist, Dr. Olivier Veran, said eating-disorders are also targeted. “It’s not just about protecting the models but also teenagers,” he said. “Because this body-image pressure also affects them and contributes to the emergence of eating disorders and tendencies to eat less and less.”
France’s National Assembly consists of the Lower and Upper House, the latter also known as the Senate. The Lower House adopted the entire bill Friday and it is now passed on to the Senate for the vote that, if passed, would see it become law. It’s expected to pass.
Penalties and fines for law breakers
There will be stiff penalties for the use of anorexic models but the bill, the legislators say, is not being designed to prosecute. They want the penalty to serve as a deterrent and are hoping that they won’t have to prosecute anyone. However, prison terms up to six months and fines up to 75,000 euros ($80,000) will be imposed on any who break the law.
Legislators have also taken aim at pro-anorexia websites:
“When we have websites dedicated to helping you hide from your family, your doctor, your friends that you are not eating, throwing up after meals or taking laxatives, when we have websites detailing what is it to be a perfect anorexic by telling you how to ingest cotton balls, drink tea and let them swell in your stomach to block your appetite (then) we are faced with a problem,” Dr. Veran said.
And still another upcoming law related to anorexia will make it compulsory for publications to inform readers whenever they have altered a photo to make a model look less, or more, thin.
