Frequency of disordered eating habits among fashion models

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.

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.

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.

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.