Vogue Launching Global Model Health Initiative

By Erin Donnelly 05/03/12 at 12:30 PM

Vogue U.K.'s June issue, starring Kate Moss, features the six-point manifesto vowing to promote healthy body types.

Looks like Natalia Vodianova isn't the only one weighing in on the state of models' health.

Anna Wintour, Emmanuelle Alt, Franca Sozzani, Alexandra Shulman, and 15 other international Vogue editors will join forces this June for The Health Initiative, which will address the issue of body image and physical wellbeing in the modeling industry.

"Vogue believes that good health is beautiful," Conde Nast International chairman Jonathan Newhouse said in a press statement. "Vogue editors around the world want the magazines to reflect their commitment to the health of the models who appear on the pages and the well-being of their readers."

As part of The Health Initiative, the editors have committed to a six-point agreement designed to promote a healthier lifestyle for the models they feature:

1. We will not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder. We will work with models who, in our view, are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image

2. We will ask agents not to knowingly send us underage girls and casting directors to check IDs when casting shoots, shows, and campaigns.

3. We will help to structure mentoring programs where more mature models are able to give advice and guidance to younger girls, and we will help to raise industry-wide awareness through education, as has been integral to the Council of Fashion Designers of America Health Initiative.

4. We will encourage producers to create healthy backstage working conditions, including healthy food options and a respect for privacy. We will encourage casting agents not to keep models unreasonably late.

5. We encourage designers to consider the consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes of their clothing, which limits the range of women who can be photographed in their clothes, and encourages the use of extremely thin models.

6. We will be vocal ambassadors for the message of healthy body image, both within the magazine and outside.

It remains to be seen just how dramatic a transformation the magazines will undergo under the new guidelines. The June issue of Vogue U.K., for instance, features waif poster child Kate Moss, though articles on healthy diets and fitness routines are included.

Still, there's no denying that this is a step in the right direction. Bring on some of those healthy curves!