5’9 models must weigh 123 pounds (suggested healthy BMI)

A sign of progress… as of last month, Spain has enacted a law requiring a model of 5’9" to weigh at least 123 pounds, considered the minimal healthy weight for a woman of this height. The current average is 110 pounds for a 5'9" model. People are worried to death that this is some kind of slap at free speech or what have you, but since the thrust for the laws was a supermodel who starved herself to death, the truth of the matter is this is basically a necessary protection for the models so that their employers can’t demand they sacrifice their health in order to keep their jobs.

Real life example, Sarah Lenah, had an agent tell her she must lose 70 pounds in order to enter the modeling industry. She went from 165 pounds to 93 pounds by a 2-3 hour daily exercise routine and extremely strict dieting. It wasn’t until she became tremendously ill, her skin turning gray and her menstrual cycle ceasing for about three years that she recognized she could not maintain this lifestyle without risking death. She now eats and exercises normally, maintains a successful modeling career and accepts her natural size-12 frame.

Adjusting the modeling industry to suit all healthy body types will enable girls to feel confident and represented within an industry that holds excessive influence on the esteem of women. Models, such as Tyra Banks, who refuse to conform to an unnatural size are paving the way in this rapidly progressive movement.

What are your thoughts on enforcing a normal BMI on models?