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India against Ultra-thin Models

After the regional government in Madrid imposed restrictions on underweight models during the city`s fashion week, the Indian health minister is joining the ongoing battle hoping that girls will strive to be healthy and lean rather than starving and skinny. India`s health minister has said that he would not be interested in seeing underweight women strutting down the catwalk and acting as role models for thousands of girls who are starving themselves to achieve a slim figure.

India is home to 57 million of the world`s 146 million malnourished children under the age of five. But the country also has a growing middle class which looks to the west on many matters, and one of the consequences is that many suffer from lifestyle ailments such as anorexia and obesity. The number of girls who are starving themselves to become as thin as models has been increasing drastically and this worries government officials.

The much discussed eating disorders have a lot to do with the growing popularity of fashion shows and modeling in India, ever since Indian models Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai became Miss Universe and Miss World respectively.