Healthy BMI for Models

In September 2006, the Spanish Association of Fashion Designers, the organizers of Madrid Fashion Week in Spain, caused an uproar in the fashion and modeling industries when its members announced a ban on overly skinny models, a categorization determined by having a body-mass index (BMI) less than 18. While some opponents proclaimed the stipulation was actually counterintuitive and would only cause models to obsess more about their bodies, others lauded it as a wake-up call and sound judgment aimed at helping rid the fashion business of its celebration of unhealthy female figures.

The Madrid Fashion Week decision followed the August 2006 death of anorexic Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos, who died of heart failure after walking the runway at Montevideo's Fashion Week. Although 5 feet 9 inches tall, she weighed only 98 pounds and had a BMI of 14.5, which is less than the 16 the World Health Organization considers the cutoff point for starvation. Reports claimed she had not eaten in days and had subsisted on a three-month diet of lettuce and Diet Coke before the fast.

The body-mass index, also called the Quetelet index, is a measurement that reflects the estimated ratio of body fat one has based on height and weight measurements. The resulting range of BMIs is employed to group individuals into four basic categories: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese.

To determine BMI using the U.S. system of feet or inches and pounds, either multiply the weight in pounds by 703 and divide by the height in inches squared [BMI = (pounds * 703)/(inches * inches)] or multiply the pounds by 4.88 and divide by the height in feet squared [BMI = (pounds * 4.88)/(feet * feet)]. To determine the BMI value using the metric system, divide body weight in kilograms by squared height in meters [BMI = kilograms/(meters * meters)]. Many BMI calculators are available online to do the math for you (see Resources).

Individuals with a BMI less than 18.5 are underweight; those with a BMI between 18.5 and 25 are normal weight; those with a BMI between 25 and 30 are overweight; and those with a BMI greater than 30 are obese. Thus, a healthy BMI for a model, like anyone else, falls in the range of 18.5 to 25. Given that requirement, a model who is 5 feet 9 inches tall (1.8 meters) should weigh no less than approximately 126 pounds (57.15 kilograms) and no more than 169 pounds (76.66 kilograms).

The minimum BMI requirement of 18 that the Spanish Association of Fashion Designers established in 2006 follows the general trend in the fashion world of favoring women who are thinner than average. According to that guideline, a 5-foot-9 model could weigh as little as 122 pounds (55.34 kilograms) and still qualify as healthy.