Wow, that's unhealthily thin

[hani_backup]

If that doesn't work, the link to the video is here.

Miss Universe Australia model too skinny?
At 5 feet 11 inches tall and 108 pounds, model is malnourished, doctors say
Reuters
updated 8:59 a.m. ET April 23, 2009

Australia's Miss Universe contest was thrown into controversy on Thursday with doctors and dieticians complaining a leading finalist was "skin and bones" and dangerously malnourished.

Sydney model Stephanie Naumoska, 19, was one of 32 contestants from more than 7,000 hopefuls to make the glittering final at an event promoting "healthy, proportioned, bodies."

"Bony or beautiful?" newspaper headlines said over photographs of a gaunt Naumoska posing in a red string bikini.

Health professionals said Naumoska, who is 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) tall and weighs just 49 kg (108 lbs), had a body mass index of just 15.1, well under the official 18 benchmark for malnutrition.

"She would be categorized as underweight and I would certainly want to be doing an assessment of her diet to make sure she doesn't have some type of eating disorder," dietician Melanie McGrice told local newspapers.

"She needs blood tests, diet analysis and an overall assessment."

Pageant director Deborah Miller said brunette Naumoska, who was defeated in the final by 20-year-old television presenter and model Rachael Finch, had Macedonian heritage, which accounted for her extreme thinness.

"They have long, lithe bodies and small bones. It is their body type, just like Asian girls tend to be small," Miller said.

But Australian Medical Association president Rosanna Capolingua, whose organization represents Australian doctors, said the contest should impose a minimum BMI cut-off of 20.

"The most unhealthy part about it, though, is the image it is showing other young women who may view this as normal, when clearly it s not," Capolingua said.

While Naumoska refused to speak to media, nutritionist Susie Burrell told the Herald Sun newspaper there was no such thing as a Macedonian body type.

Eventual winner Finch will compete in the Miss Universe world finals in the Bahamas in August.

Copyright 2009 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

URL: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30364743/

Comments

[unico-love.livejournal.com]

I think a BMI of 20 is too high as a cut-off. My BMI now on Zyprexa isn't even 20.

[hani.livejournal.com]

I agree. There are always the people who are healthy, eat healthily but just with a high metabolism/certain body type that puts their BMI as less than 18/18.5.

The whole thing of "Macedonian body type" was a little meh for me.

[fozziewaca.livejournal.com]

idk, my cousin is about her height and has never weighed more than 110lbs, despite the fact that she eats like a pig. Then again, she doesn't walk around in a bikini so it's hard to tell how thin she is.

It's irresponsible for the doctors/dietitians to call her 'malnourished' based on a photo and without analysis and tests. Could be an ED, stress, or just her natural size.

BMI is not the be all and end all.

[hani.livejournal.com]

Good points about the non-tests/analyses. And BMI not being the end all.

[big-yellow-moon.livejournal.com]

"Naumoska refused to speak to media" That's a bit odd for someone who is showing herself in front of thousands of people (millions possibly).

There seem to be a lot more pro-ED communities on LJ than there were a few years ago. That might be the dark side of social networking-- makes it easy to feed your disease. My mom was bulemic. I didn't even know what that was at the time, though.

[hani.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I wandered over to some pro-ED communities here out of curiosity (and elsewhere online) and was pretty shocked. Well, maybe she thought that since not winning Miss Universe-Australia title, she thinks it's an issue that doesn't need addressing (now or ever).

And I'm sorry about your mom suffering through bulimia.

[big-yellow-moon.livejournal.com]

My mom was pretty odd. She used to tell me there was something wrong that the doctors couldn't figure out and she just couldn't keep anything down. Years later, one of her friends told me she did it on purpose because "she just loved the taste of food."

She lied to me about all kinds of things, actually.

[hani.livejournal.com]

How old were you then? If you were much younger, I imagine telling your child you're bulimic would be difficult, if not...impossible.

I'm sorry if it hurts you still that she lied to you about all kinds of things. *hugs*

[big-yellow-moon.livejournal.com]

I think I was in my early teens and on. I was through college by the time she died. By then, we were pretty far apart. I don't think I'd been close to my mom since I was in grade school. Things were good when I was a child, though. I was spoiled!

[kiiabby.livejournal.com]

Ugh, that's just scarily thin. The worst part is part of me thinks "damn I wish I was that skinny". I reckon everyone has body dysmorphic disorder to a certain extent :(

[hani.livejournal.com]

I can see what you mean. I saw her picture and I was like "I want to have my hips be as obvious as hers." >_< *hugs*

[mind0vermatter.livejournal.com]

I don't know, I think the 20 bmi cutoff is a good idea. I acknowledge the above comments as to chemical reasons why a person would be that thin without being anorexic, but I think it's important to take into account that that isn't a healthy weight to be at for the vast majority of people. Contests that are trying to promote "healthy, proportioned, bodies" should be putting forth an example of women that are both beautiful and not thin at a level that isn't right for most people, in my opinion.

[hani.livejournal.com]

WHO has the cut-off as 18.5. It used to be 18 when I was in middle school and I think most of high school. I don't know if they bumped up the number because of research showing the majority of people don't have healthy bodies at a BMI of 18 or because of the growing obesity problem. *shrug*

If they used 20 with some reasoning including muscle mass, I suppose I'd be happier with it.