Girls aged under 16 be banned from catwalk modeling. Do you agree?


It is often debated that girls under 16 should be banned from catwalk modeling to protect them from eating disorders and sexual exploitation. There was a trend for industries to use younger models, who are more vulnerable to eating disorders such as anorexia. So banning them from catwalk modeling is to keep them always from these health problems. Many models are conscious about staying skinny, to keep their jobs. For teenagers however, nutrition is very important. At a puberty age of 16, to deprive them of their daily needs and over focus on staying skinny will affect their growth. Health risks also include stress, substance abuse and poor working conditions, which a 16 year-old girl may not be able to cope with. Also, one advantage of banning girls under 16 from catwalk modeling is, it will stop young girls from getting obsessed with being skinny and attempt to follow some super thin “size zero” models. When they get older, they should then be able to balance their own diet better. Then only, should they go into the modeling career.

On the other hand, we will also have people for the opposition side. Girls under 16 should be portrayed as adult women. They should too be sensible enough to know what they are doing and what’s good for them. Instead of banning girls under 16 from catwalk modeling, laws could be enforced for industries to weigh models and ban those under a certain weight. Tests to access their body mass index, a measure of fat, could be done on models to ensure they are in good health. There is no established need for girls under 16 to be banned from catwalk modeling. However, better training could be provided for designers and agents to help them spot models with eating disorders.