Objective
Sociocultural influences, including an increasing pressure for fashion models to maintain
a thin body frame may be crucial in the development of eating disorders. The present
study aimed to establish whether fashion models are more likely than non-models to
develop eating disorders.
Methods
Female fashion models were selected by snowball sampling (n = 179, mean age: 25.9
SD = 4.70 years). They were compared with an age adjusted control group (n = 261,
mean age: 25.0 SD = 4.97 years). Participants completed an online questionnaire containing
the Eating Disorder Inventory.
Results
The average BMI of the fashion models was in the underweight range (mean BMI = 18.1
SD = 1.68). The BMI of the control group was significantly higher (mean = 22.1 SD
= 4.23, p < 0.001). The frequency of simulated anorexia nervosa was 3.9% among the
fashion models and 1.1% in the control group (p = 0.057). 14.6% of the models showed
subclinical anorexia nervosa symptoms versus 2.7% in the control group (p < 0.001).
The ratio of bulimia nervosa and subclinical bulimia nervosa showed no significant
difference between the two groups.
Conclusion
Female fashion models showed no significant difference from the control group in the
frequency of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa but had a significantly higher frequency
of the subclinical form of anorexia nervosa.
