Gisele Bundchen

Gisele Bundchen on the runway

RIO DE JANEIRO: Supermodel Gisele Bundchen has entered the growing anorexia debate in Brazil, saying families are to blame, not the fashion industry. “I never suffered this problem because I had a very strong family base,” Bundchen was quoted as saying in Friday’s edition of O Globo newspaper. “The parents are responsible, not fashion.” The 26-year-old model was in Brazil for the annual Fashion Rio, a weeklong showcase of the country’s top designers. Anorexia nervosa, a disorder characterised by an abnormal fear of becoming obese, became a hot issue in Brazil after four young women died from it last month, including model Ana Carolina Reston, 21. The 5-foot-8 (1.72-metre) model weighed 88 pounds (40 kilograms) at the time of her death. Splashed across the front pages of newspapers nationwide, anorexia has become a morbid fascination for Brazilians, and was even the theme of a popular TV soap opera. It also sparked a debate within Brazil’s fashion industry that has long presented the rail-thin model as the paragon of female beauty. “Everybody knows the standard for models is to be thin,” Bundchen said. “But you can’t generalise and say that all models are anorexic.” Bundchen, who began a three-month modelling job in Japan when she was 14, said family support was key to her. “You leave home, the protection of your parents, but you still know you have their support,” said the Brazilian, who has five sisters. Gisele was nicknamed “Olivia Palito”, the Portuguese name for Olive Oyl of Popeye fame, by her schoolmates.

Gisele Bundchen doubts fashion's influence on anorexia

Gisele Bundchen says the fashion industry is not responsible for causing young girls to suffer from
anorexia - insisting it is the parents fault.
The 26-year-old supermodel is adamant the families of anorexic girls are to blame for their problems,
not the super-slim bodies promoted by models on the catwalks.
Gisele told Brazil's Globo: "I never suffered from this problem because I had a very strong family base.
The parents are responsible, not fashion.
"Everybody knows the standard for models is to be thin, but you can't generalise and say that all models
are anorexic."
In recent months, the weight of models has become the subject of an international debate as to whether
the current trend for very skinny models is encouraging eating disorders in influential young girls.
Last September, underweight models were banned from Madrid Fashion week and in December Italian
designers introduced a requirement for models to submit proof that they do no suffer from an eating
disorder.
Four women in Gisele's home country of Brazil died last month from anorexia, including 21-year-old
model Ana Carolina Reston. The supermodel, who previously dated Leonardo DiCaprio, left home aged
14 for a three-month modelling job in Japan, but said she always had the
support of her family.

Gisele Bundchen Blames The Fashion Industry For Causing Anorexia In Young Girls

Los Angeles (eCanadaNow) - Gisele Bundchen says the fashion industry is not responsible for causing
young girls to suffer from anorexia – insisting it is the parents fault.
The 26-year-old supermodel is adamant the families of anorexic girls are to blame for their problems,
not the super-slim bodies promoted by models on the catwalks.
Gisele told Brazil’s Globo newspaper: “I never suffered from this problem because I had a very strong
family base. The parents are responsible, not fashion.
“Everybody knows the standard for models is to be thin, but you can’t generalise and say that all models
are anorexic.”
In recent months, the weight of models has become the subject of an international debate as to whether
the current trend for very skinny models is encouraging eating disorders in influential young girls.
Last September, underweight models were banned from Madrid Fashion week and in December Italian
designers introduced a requirement for models to submit proof that they do no suffer from an eating
disorder.
Four women in Gisele’s home country of Brazil died last month from anorexia, including 21-year-old
model Ana Carolina Reston.
The supermodel, who previously dated Leonardo DiCaprio, left home aged 14 for a three-month
modelling job in Japan, but said she always had the support of her family.

Gisele Bundchen says the fashion industry is not responsible for causing young girls to suffer from anorexia - insisting it is the parents fault.

The 26-year-old supermodel is adamant the families of anorexic girls are to blame for their problems, not the super-slim bodies promoted by models on the catwalks. Gisele told Brazil's Globo newspaper: "I never suffered from this problem because I had a very strong family base. The parents are responsible, not fashion. "Everybody knows the standard for models is to be thin, but you can't generalise and say that all models are anorexic." In recent months, the weight of models has become the subject of an international debate as to whether the current trend for very skinny models is encouraging eating disorders in influential young girls. Last September, underweight models were banned from Madrid Fashion week and in December Italian designers introduced a requirement for models to submit proof that they do no suffer from an eating disorder. Four women in Gisele's home country of Brazil died last month from anorexia, including 21-year-old model Ana Carolina Reston. The supermodel, who previously dated Leonardo DiCaprio, left home aged 14 for a three-month modelling job in Japan, but said she always had the support of her family.

In this file photo Victoria's Secret model Gisele Bundchen gets her hair done backstage in preparation for the Victoria's Secret fashion show in Hollywood, California, November 16, 2006. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Supermodel Gisele Bundchen says weak families are to blame for anorexia -- not the fashion industry that has been widely criticized for promoting waifish silhouettes. "I never suffered from this problem (anorexia) because I had a very strong family base. Parents are responsible, not the fashion industry," she said in the Friday edition of O Globo newspaper. Gisele, 26, was visiting her native Brazil this week for Fashion Rio, which has banned models who are under the age of 16 and has required proof of their good health after the death of a Brazilian model from complications due to starvation last year. In September, Spain barred models below a certain weight from Madrid fashion shows, while the Italian government and its fashion chiefs signed a pact to keep sickly thin girls off the catwalk. The former girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio, who was ranked 16 on Forbes list of the 20 richest women in entertainment this week, said being a model is a question of genetics. "Everybody knows that the norm in fashion is thin. But excuse me, there are people born with the right genes for this profession," she said. Gisele said that as a child her peers teased her for being skinny with names like Olive Oil, the character from the Popeye cartoon.

Gisele Bundchen | Gisele Bundchen 1

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