Israel mulls ban on underweight, 'Photoshopped' models

The use of underweight models and digitally rendered images in advertising campaigns should be restricted by law, a new bill submitted to the Knesset proposed on Sunday.

According to the bill, drafted by MK Rachel Adatto (Kadima) and MK Danny Danon (Likud), the chairman of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, advertising agencies would be banned from hiring underweight female and male models.

The authors of the bill relied on the Health Ministry's official criterion, which states that adults with a body mass index lower than 18.5 are considered underweight.

The bill also stipulates that advertising agencies should not be able to use digital imaging software, such as the widely-used Photoshop software, to narrow the waists of models in advertising campaigns.

"Eating disorders, including anorexia, have been on the rise in Israeli society, especially among young girls," the introduction to the bill stated.

The bill also said that, "Studies show that one of the causes for eating disorders among young women is the effect media and advertising campaigns have by presenting very slim women as role models, thus affecting the youth's standards."

According to MK Adatto, "The fashion and advertising industries have constructed a distorted ideal of female beauty, as many of the models appearing in the adverts are underweight.

"This bill is meant to battle eating disorders. It's important to understand that anorexia can kill, a fact which brings out the importance of tools that could curb its expansion among youngsters."

Danon said the bill "is meant to protect children's health by filtering the damaging messages of the modeling industry."

A similar bill had been proposed in the previous Knesset by former Yisrael Beiteinu MK Esterina Tartman, but was eventually rejected after some said it was wrong to discriminate based on overweight or underweight.