Everyone recognizes that most women in Hollywood have skinny bodies, but most people do not know the decreasing standards in health that have arose due to the industry's pressure to stay thin.

The BMI (Body Mass Index) is a mathematical formula that takes a person's weight and divides it by their height to show the amount of body fat in a person. A healthy woman has a BMI of 18.5-25 (according the World Health Organization). A woman around 5'5" with a weight of 125 pounds has a BMI of 21, but if she weighed 90 pounds, her BMI would be 15. An alarming increase of models and actors have a BMI less than that. Agencies refuse to impose a BMI minimum, even though (according to an article in the New York Times) anything under 17.5 is at risk for health problems.

Agents and bookers force their models/actors thin by threatening to not get them work. Former model Amanda Kerlin told Seventeen Magazine that casting agents would constantly ask her to lose weight and would get mad if she didn't fit into their tiny sized clothes. In fact, once a week they actually measured her to make sure she didn't gain weight. They don't seem to take the impending health risks very seriously. In fact, Janice Dickinson, who owns a very famous modeling agency, was quoted as saying, "I'm dying to find kids who are too thin...In fact, I WISH they'd come down with some kind of eating disorder!" Even Liv Tyler, an award-nominated actress, got told that she would get more work if she lost some weight.

This kind of pressure is dangerous for people's health. A person who becomes too overwhelmed by the need to be thin can develop anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders have over 100 possible symptoms, but they include: pain, numbness, tingling, heart palpations, constant feeling of overwhelm or fear, vomiting, lack of sleep, distorted vision, depression, or even thoughts of suicide. Besides anxiety disorders, women in this position often develop eating disorders (anorexia, bulemia). Eating disorders put you at risk for infertility, osteoporosis, b12 deficiency, anemia, heart disease, stroke, or heart attack. Translation-girls are literally starving themselves to death.

The extremities women in Hollywood go through to stay thin trickles down to the general public. Graham Houghton, a nurse at the Correctional Health Service in Tasmania, Australia, told Nursing Standard that Americans are at a celebrity conscious age and try to emmulate what they see in the media. Girls can't reach this standard, and their self esteem plummets. According to Karen L. Smith, MSS & LCSW, 87% of women hate their body. Researchers have even found an increase of eating disorders in girls ages 8-11 years old! Women go through the same health risks as the movie stars and models!

Why does Hollywood do it? There's an array of excuses. Some claim it's the model's choice or else they say fashion looks good on skinny girls. With America's problem with obesity, many say they are setting a good example for ladies to follow. The problem with that is that it has gone to the extreme in the other direction. It has also confused people with what is actually considered overweight. This added stress has obviously not helped with obesity epidemic. In fact, it may actually be contributing to the rise of health problems in this country! Hollywood should be setting an example by making their models and actresses at a healthy BMI!

The Department of Labor has a mission of improving the welfare of wage earners by improving working conditions. If any other place of employment put their workers through this, the DOL would intervene. Models and actresses have been neglected by them. If your work denied you a lunch break for a full 8 hour shift, they would get into huge trouble. Personally, I worked for a hair modeling gig for a major salon brand, and they did not allow me a lunch break for an 8 day! For the health of women everywhere, the Department of Labor should sign into law a BMI index of at least 18 and make sure it is enforced!