RIO DE JANEIRO - Supermodel Gisele Bundchen says weak families are to blame for anorexia -- not the fashion industry that has been widely criticized for promoting waifish silhouettes.
"I never suffered from this problem (anorexia) because I had a very strong family base. Parents are responsible, notthe fashion industry," Bundchen told the O Globo newspaper.
Bundchen, 26, was visiting her native Brazil this week for the Fashion Rio show, which has banned models who are under the age of 16 and has required proof of their good health after the death of a Brazilian model from complications due to starvation last year.
In September, Spain barred models below a certain weight from Madrid fashion shows while the Italian government and its fashion chiefs signed a pact to keep sickly thin girls off the catwalk.
Bundchen, the former girlfriend of actor Leonardo DiCaprio, said being a model is a matter of genetics.
"Everybody knows that the norm in fashion is thin," she said. "But excuse me, there are people born with the right genes for this profession."
Bundchen, who was ranked 16th on Forbes magazine's list of the 20 richest women in entertainment this week, said as a child her peers teased her for being skinny with names like Olive Oyl, the gangly character from the Popeye cartoon.
"In fashion I felt accepted ... I never felt lonely because I always relied on my family."
