By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
When Frederique van der Wal, a former Victoria’s Secret model, attended designers’ shows during New York’s Fashion Week this month, she was “shocked” by the waiflike models who paraded down the catwalk. They seemed even skinnier than in previous years.
“This unnatural thinness is a terrible message to send out. The people watching the fashion shows are young, impressionable women,” says van der Wal, host of Cover Shot on TLC.
Psychologists and eating-disorder experts are worried about the same thing. They say the fashion industry has gone too far in pushing a dangerously thin image that women, and even very young girls, may try to emulate.