Anti-thin Spain bans 5 models

The 68 international models stepped on the scales yesterday and five Spanish 8220;featherweights8221; failed.

The girls had a Body Mass Index, calculated on a height-weight ratio, of under 18 56 kg for 1.75 metres or 123 pounds for five feet eight inches, the limit set by the regional government of Madrid which co-finances the event.

The girls were weighed by volunteer doctors recruited for the occasion by the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition. The organisers said they had not even allowed 30 to 40 percent of the models who had taken to the cat-walk in last year8217;s edition of the fashion show to attend the casting.

There will be 27 fashion-shows in the five-day event during which 31, largely Spanish, clothes8217; designers will show their wares in a marquee set up in Madrid8217;s Retiro park.

The 8220;anti-thin8221; move was criticised in Paris and New York, two of the world8217;s leading fashion centres.