Weighing in on the weight issue...

Of all the people to speak on the issue of models and their weight at a Monday symposium here at Fashion Week, the most poignant - and most telling - comments came from model Nadia Vodianova.
Vodianova, 25, spoke frankly about her experiences in the modeling world since she got her start at age 17.
Growing up in Russia, Vodianova says she had a healthy attitude towards eating. She never thought twice about what she should or shouldn't eat. That all changed when she began to model, she said during the symposium.
"As I began working and modeling I began paying attention to my body shape and (comparing myself) to other models. My image of myself was changing drastically, without me even realizing it," she said.
When she started doing major runway shows in 2002, Vodianova said she started feeling pressure from the industry.
"The schedule was very hectic. Eating was secondary," she said.
At 19, Vodianova had a baby. When she returned to modeling, she actually lost too much weight.
"I was 106 pounds. My hair was thinning," she said. The irony is that she was getting featured even more prominently, opening and closing shows. A friend confronted her and talked to her about taking better care of herself.
The model listened and began putting on weight.
The next season, she was healthier. She looked and felt good. But she said some fashion houses called her agency to complain. They said she was too heavy.
She weighed 115.
"If I had been weak at the time, I can imagine how I could have endangered myself," she said.
Listening to Vodianova and others during the symposium, it's clear that this is an issue with no easy answers. The Council of Fashion Designers of America is quite adamant that they're not in charge of regulating models and their weight. CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg shot down a suggestion that designers should ask models to show proof that they have been declared healthy by a doctor.
Instead, the CFDA plans to emphasize education for the fashion industry, and will promote healthier environments for models.
It's hard to say how well this will work.
While many models are naturally tall and thin but look perfectly healthy, there are some models on the runway this season who seem excruciatingly thin. I say this as someone who, as a dance writer, is used to looking at thin bodies.
So here's the question that begs to be answered: where exactly does the problem lie? Is it designers who favor the thinner models? Is it the casting directors who select the super thin models because they think that's what a designer wants? Is it the agencies who tell the models to get thin if they want to work the top shows? Or is there a self-imposed pressure among models to stay as thin as possible since they know that's the look that will get them jobs?
I won't pretend to know the answers. But I do know it's a very complex issue, perhaps more complex than many people may realize.