Anger at model slimming story

By ANGELA GREGORY

A "dangerous" Vogue magazine article describing how already-slim models can get rid of body fat is heading for New Zealand bookstores.

An item called "The Bod Squad", appearing in the January 2003 issue of Vogue Australia, has angered nutritionist and anorexia counsellors.

They say it encourages dangerous weight-loss techniques and gives confusing, contradictory and wrong dietary information that could trigger eating disorders.

The edition containing the article will be available here in a fortnight.

It describes how an American personal trainer sends models on 45-minute runs every morning with only sugar-sweetened coffee and fat burning pills in their stomachs.

While the magazine cautions that fat burners can cause the heart to race, the trainer comments that an "incredible amount" of fat is burned off when there is no food in the system.

A Miami personal trainer says in the article that many models never exercised and needed to get rid of body fat.

"They've been thin all their lives and they don't know you can't eat bread or pasta. And then as they get older their metabolism slows down."

Others talk of models needing to be incredibly toned, be not wider than a clothes hanger, and expected to be "very skinny" for Paris fashion shows.

On the website the sub-headline "Even models have to go to boot camp sometimes" is run close to a photo of models looking more like they'd spent time in a concentration camp.

It says abstaining from alcohol, smoking, bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes keeps models from straying from the "thin and narrow."

The website reports how in the article a personal trainer will share his secrets with Vogue, and not to miss his sensible tips on losing a few kilos in as many days.

But Vogue Australia editor Kirstie Clements has also posted a note on the internet claiming that the article did not in any way recommend women followed the regimes.

"It points out the extremes that models go to in their quest to be thin - we make very strong statements within the piece about how to lose weight and shape up sensibly."

Kirstie Clements said Vogue was always very conscious of delivering sound messages about health, and the entire issue was dedicated to being strong, fit and well.

Vogue Australia had no further comment on the article.

New Zealand dietitian Nikki Hart said such low-carbohydrate diets were dangerous as glucose was needed as the primary fuel of the brain and heart.

"They can do serious harm, especially in New Zealand where diabetes is going though the roof."

Herald feature: Health