Israel’s Underweight Models Ban Launches

ISRAEL's new law banning unhealthily thin models has come into effect. The new legislation, which was first passed in March last year, bans models with a body mass index - a calculation based on height and weight - of less than 18.5 from appearing in adverts. This means that a model who is 5-foot-8 can weigh no less than 119 pounds (8.5 stone).

The law also requires publications and brands to disclose when they use manipulated images of models to make them look thinner than they really are, The Wall Street Journal reports. Additionally, models will have to provide medical proof of their weight when they go up for castings.

Vogue launched The Health Initiative in May last year, a pledge among all international editions to solely use models "who are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image".