Debate: size 0 - how thin is too thin?

[marley2580]

Size 0 debate - should size 0 be allowed on the catwalks runways? Are we obsessed with our weight? Is the increase in eating disorders in our children down to the airbrushing in magazines?

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x

 

[mommyof3co]

I don't know, I think there should be a mix, not ONLY size 0. I was a 0 before having kids, 00 in some things and I don't think I was TOO thin by any means. I do think seeing only these really skinny models not a mix of what women really look like and what is really normal, does contribute to some kids eating disorders. Why not just let them look natural? Why the need to air brush. I get everyone wants to look good in pics but come on...it probably doesn't even look anything like what they really look like.

 

[Celesse]

I think it depends on what your body wants to be. Some ppl look fab size 0, some look skeletal. Personally I look my best with a bit of curve at UKsize14/16.

Models should be a bit of everything.

 

[Blah11]

Yes, we're obsessed with weight, myself included. I think people should be the weight and size they feel happy and healthy at. Whether that is a size 8 or a size 18 should be upto the individual but I think if celebritys are going to slim down to a size 0, be honest and say you've dieted. I hate when they say 'oh this is natural, i dont diet or exercise'.. yeah right.
I agree with mommyof3co.. models should be all shapes and sizes, no just straight up and down and skinny although I understand why designers choose skinny models; the clothes DO look better on them.

Personally, I don't mind airbrushing. We all know the models have flaws, but no one wants to see a blemish or a muffin top staring at them from a magazine cover do they?

 

[xxxjacxxx]

As a mother of a very bodily consious 11 year old I think size 0 is too thin. Not so much if thats how your naturally built, but if youve dieted and exersized to get like that and have bones sticking out everywhere, personally I think it looks disgusting.
My dd quite frequently tells me she's fat and wants to go on a diet (at 11) because yeah she bigger than the average 11 year old, shes taller too....she has boobs already and little curves, her friends are still very boyish. She yearns to be thin And I blame the TV, magazines as well as peer pressure.
I agree with the other ladies, there should be a mix of different sized models, look what its doing to our kids

 

[morri]

I think there should be a rule in modelling and similar stuff like there is in Ski jumping. Ski jumping had a history of anorexia because jumpers got longer skis when they weight less. This has been turned around though, You have for Ski jumping now a required weight to be allowed to start. I think there should be something like that as well, as well as regular doctor check-ups to assess the health of models.

 

[aly888]

Unfortunately airbrushing is more than hiding the bags under their eyes or giving their hair extra gloss...they were discussing it on 'breakfast' last week (because debenhams have announced they arent going to airbrush their swimwear advertising this year) and they had a size 8 model there and brought up one of her pics before and after airbrushing...they had slimmed her waist down by another couple of inches now that to me is unfair, because she is no longer representing a size 8 model and it gives out false information!!

But I agree, there should be a mix of sizes on the catwalk, but it's never going to happen. designers are only ever going to make one size of each garment and the models have to fit into them, not the other way around!!

I dont think it's just the airbrushing that is responsible for eating disorders. Everywhere you look there is a magazine with am article about 'how to lose those extra pounds' or 'tone up in 5 days' or going on about the next big health food craze. It's not suprising that we are so image conscious when all the media around us is telling us how we are supposed to look!!
I for one, would be classed as medically 'underweight' if I went down to a size 8 (wich I used to be before being pregnant). I'm size 10-12 now and just within 'normal'...but even then I still think people should be happy with whatever size or shape they are. What is the point I starving yourself and sweating yourself to death if you arent enjoying it?

 

[cherylanne]

Some women are naturally a size zero and other women are naturally curvier, i think it should be shown on the catwalk that all sizes are beautiful. I do agree that the current 'obsession' with size zero is effecting our children, i wish that as a society we could just accept and be happy with what we have and show our children that so long as you are healthy whatever size you are is 'normal' xx

 

[Mindy_mini]

I think it depends on what your body wants to be. Some ppl look fab size 0, some look skeletal. Personally I look my best with a bit of curve at UKsize14/16.

Models should be a bit of everything.

Im the same as you. I look my best at UK size 12/14 - at a small 12 i start looking ill and drawn in the face and like my head is too big for my body. At a 10 i look like a victim of famine!!!!!!

As you say some people are naturally thin and as such I dont see anything wrong with a size 0 model IF ITS A NATURAL SIZE 0. However, the fact that every magazine you open has a whole aray of size 0's and no other sizes and its common knowledge how these models have very restricted diets to maintain these sizes isnt a good thing. It gives young girls the idea that this is what they "should" look like and thats not healthy or right.

I'd love to see a selection of different sized models in magazines and on catwalks and I hate HATE HATE this "plus size model" lable that is given to what i consider normal sized models because it gives the idea that they are fat rather than just bigger in proportion.

 

[Blah11]

I think there should be a rule in modelling and similar stuff like there is in Ski jumping. Ski jumping had a history of anorexia because jumpers got longer skis when they weight less. This has been turned around though, You have for Ski jumping now a required weight to be allowed to start. I think there should be something like that as well, as well as regular doctor check-ups to assess the health of models.

I don't think that would work tbh. You can take 2 people who are the same weight or same BMI and they can look totally different depending on how much fat and muscle they have and where the weight is distributed.

 

[lorrilou]

i completely agree with cherylanne, i think aslong as your healthy size shouldnt matter. I do think they should have all different sizes on the catwalks, in magazines etc. I love looking at pics of women that havent been airbrushed with their cellulite on show etc.. makes you realise that they are real.

 

[Blah11]

Ha I'm the opposite to you girls. I do not look anywhere near 9.5st and although I'm a 10-12 I look chunkier. I was 8.5 before I got pregnant and was ona diet even then!

 

[lorrilou]

im a 12-14 at the moment and a little chunkier that i would like to be but any smaller than a size 10 and i look ridiculous.

 

[morri]

I think there should be a rule in modelling and similar stuff like there is in Ski jumping. Ski jumping had a history of anorexia because jumpers got longer skis when they weight less. This has been turned around though, You have for Ski jumping now a required weight to be allowed to start. I think there should be something like that as well, as well as regular doctor check-ups to assess the health of models.

I don't think that would work tbh. You can take 2 people who are the same weight or same BMI and they can look totally different depending on how much fat and muscle they have and where the weight is distributed.

Yea but thats why I have the doctor assessment in there, sure there are people who just are skinny, naturally, but a doctor would see whether that is a natural skinny person or one who forces herself. You can get something like percentiles too or so, at least it seems to work in skijumping.

 

[Blah11]

Theres a lot of models, and weight can change so dramatically very quickly. I don't think getting a doctors report done every coupleof weeks is very practical tbh.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

I think it just depends, everyone in my family is built quite small, and just recently i piled on the weight..i am now a size 12 ! and being 5ft tall i look huge.. yet when i say "yeah im big im a size 12".. almost instantly people say "12 isnt big" but yes according to my bmi i am overweight and i look it... just an example of how everyone is different!.. and personally i will never want to buy clothes if i see them on a bigger model first or a bigger manakin(sp) just makes the outfit look frumpy.. and its the same with magazines we don't want to buy swimwear off swim models with muffin tops and saggy bits ...

also alot of people could use that slap in the face because as we know there are FAR to many morbidly obese people around..

 

[sparkle_1979]

I think some girls who are naturally small framed can still look healthy a size 0 ( though very few IMO ) others just look starved and gaunt. I think as long as you are eating healthy and don't look ill then it's your choice and each to their own...x

I was a size 6 once ( many yrs ago )I dont think that's a 0 though is it?? To be honest I did look too thin, though I am petite so just about got away with it, anymore and I would have had to starve myself to get a size lower.

 

[Lucy_lu_84]

It does depend on whether you are naturally that slim or not...sime size 0's look ill, and honestly it's not pretty.

However my neice is a size 6, possibly even smaller at times and she's perfectly in porportion...yet if I was a size 6 i would look ill!

 

[polo_princess]

My opinion on weight is somewhat skewered by the media already and im constantly obsessed with how i look and my weight, but i do think that as a general rule (taking build/frame etc out of the equation) that a size 0 is just too small, i think a 6/8 tops is the smallest people should go to be slim without looking ill.

 

[aly888]

im a 12-14 at the moment and a little chunkier that i would like to be but any smaller than a size 10 and i look ridiculous.

Thats the same with me (not that I saw that when I was a size 8 ) but thats not to say I tihnk size 10 is too small. Just too small for my height!

I think it just depends, everyone in my family is built quite small, and just recently i piled on the weight..i am now a size 12 ! and being 5ft tall i look huge.. yet when i say "yeah im big im a size 12".. almost instantly people say "12 isnt big" but yes according to my bmi i am overweight and i look it... just an example of how everyone is different!.. and personally i will never want to buy clothes if i see them on a bigger model first or a bigger manakin(sp) just makes the outfit look frumpy.. and its the same with magazines we don't want to buy swimwear off swim models with muffin tops and saggy bits ...

also alot of people could use that slap in the face because as we know there are FAR to many morbidly obese people around..

Whilst yes, that is true, is it really the best way to go about it!? Is it fair for media to portray size 0 (which i believe is a size 6 in uk sizes ) as being ideal? it may be for someone of a certain height, but what if a girl who is 5'8 strives to reach that size? can you imagine the lengths she would have to go to to lose enough 'mass' to fit into a size 6?! I know there are alot of girls who are naturally that thin (one of my best friends is that thin, but she hates hates hates it but cant put weight on) but the media seems to be 'pushing' us to lose weight, but too much weight, iykwim?

Someone my height would look perfectly healthy and "normal" (whatever that is) if they were size 16, but a girl who is 5'2 would not be considered "normal" if she was a size 16. I think places need to move their focus away from ideal dress sizes and find a new way of measuring it. I know there is BMI, but you cant label clothes on the BMI scale

ETA - and whoever it was who said that they dont like models size 12+ being considered 'plus size', I totally agree since when was size 12/14 a plus size!??