The Low Down on Size Zero

What is the the allure of size zero.

It’s the ideal status symbol, fuelled by a world in which skinny celebrities and models fit right in; where coffee and cigarettes replace food and you can order a plate of “skinny” sushi – sans rice. But striving for the ultimate dress size is not without its risks.

The Agency, a new shock reality show starting on 18 February, goes behind the scenes at a leading New York modelling agency. The show reveals Model Booker Becky Southwick’s unorthodox perception of obesity.

The star of The Agency habitually reduces models to tears, lambasting one for having a whopping 36-inch hip measurement (size zeros weigh in at 34 inches), and discourages her charges from eating. The ultimate goal for the show’s contestants, it seems, is to squeeze their hips into a pair of jeans with the magic number 0 on the label, no matter what the side effects may be.

Size Zero is a women’s clothing size in the US system equivalent to a UK size 4, with a waist measurement of a tiny 23 inches, the average girth of an 8 year old girl. Experts say that being this thin can lead to loss of periods, hair falling out, dry skin and even thinning bones.

The size is reportedly inspiring a sales boom in London, however, and is on sale in shops like Miss Selfridge and Top Shop. Even supermarket chain Asda has now launched a size zero range. And if that’s not enough to give you size-zero envy, some blink-and-you’ll-miss-them women can even squish into the new double zero category, including Desperate Housewives’ minx Eva Longoria.

A restaurant popular with celebrities and fashionistas is offering free food to skinny models who have come under attack for promoting a stick-thin image which critics says encourages eating disorders in young women.

Bumpkin restaurant in trendy Notting Hill is offering models with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of less than 18 the opportunity to gorge on fish pies, lamb burgers, king prawns and scallops.

"If I could recommend a dish to a size zero model, it would be a charter pie containing leeks, chicken and bacon; it's enough to keep you warm and energised all day," Bumpkin general manager said in a statement on Monday.

The Perfect Zero

The British Fashion Council has discouraged designers from hiring blatantly anorexic girls for the upcoming London Fashion Week, starting on February 11. It failed to ban the big size zero though, suggesting that it lacked the authority to do so and that victimising or refusing a person work on the basis of their size constituted discrimination.

Financed by major High Street players like Tesco and Marks & Spencer, the event has been urged to veto models with a Body Mass Index below 18, classified as underweight by the World Health Organisation.

This would leave supermodels Kate Moss, Giselle Bundchen and Lily Cole out in the cold. In fact, the average catwalk model has a BMI of just 16. London Mayor Ken Livingstone has threatened to withdraw £103 000 sponsorship if underweight girls are allowed on the catwalk.

Madrid Fashion Week banned models with a BMI under 18 last year, after Uruguayan Model Luisel Ramos died of heart failure in August moments after appearing on the show. She had reportedly fasted for days to meet the fashion world’s narrow expectations. Then in November Brazilian Ana Carolina Reston followed suit, dying from anorexia complications after apparently attempting to survive for months on only apples and tomatoes.

Victoria Beckham has spoken out against skinny chic, banning size zero models from promoting her fashion label. While she says she prefers curvy girls, critics suggest she just wants to look hotter standing next to them, especially in her new habitat in the undernourished world of LA.

Skinny Chic

As the media industry idolises ever tinier starlets, health experts warn that the super-skeletal trend is an eating disorder time bomb.

Over the last five years, high-school-aged females’ use of diet pills have doubled, according to a study by the University of Minnesota’s “Project EAT”. The study found that by age 19, 20 per cent of women used diet pills. 62 per cent of teenage girls used unhealthy methods of weight control, 22 per cent admitting to using diet pills, vomiting, laxatives and skipping meals.

“These numbers are startling, and they tell us we need to do a better job of helping our daughters feel better about themselves and avoid unhealthy weight control behaviours,” said researcher Dianne Neumark-Sztainer. She also said that teenagers who diet and use unhealthy weight-loss methods are at three times the risk of being overweight.

And, scientists add, in girls age 15-24, the group most vulnerable to societal and psychological pressures, the incidence of eating disorders continue to rise.

Ultimately, people with eating disorders look to skinny role-models for inspiration, and they have never had so many images to motivate them.