Fashion industry and Italian government to sign code to combat anorexia

Fashion industry representatives and the Italian government were to sign a self-regulating code for Italy's highly competitive fashion industry Friday, joining forces in a campaign to combat the phenomenon of anorexic models.

Youth Policy and Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri and Mario Boselli, president of the Italian Fashion Chamber are expected to sign the code, which calls for more attention to the "full-bodied" image and a commitment to add larger sizes to collections.

Weeks ago, Melandri, who stands out in the Cabinet as a fashionable dresser, urged the fashion industry to emphasize larger sizes for women instead of tinier sizes on the runways, reports AP.

In September, Madrid's Fashion Week banned models with a body mass index of less than 18. Body mass index is a calculation doctors normally apply to study obesity, and anyone with an index below 18.5 is considered underweight.