Too small, too big, too young, too old...what is the modeling industry coming to? Modeling officials all over the world are now concerned that models are not only becoming too small, but too young as well. Britain's Model Health Inquiry is pushing for models who are younger than 16 years of age to be banned from the catwalk. This news coming just months after Britain fought against banning super-skinny models from the runway.

Britain's modeling industry made headlines last September when the chairman of London Fashion Week, Stuart Rose, refused to ban models with a body mass index of less than 18 from walking the runway. Milan initiated the ban and was shocked when the London representatives went against their motion. Rose claimed that the designers should be given full creative control over what their models look like and that weight should not play a factor in the models ability to work the runway.

If a model looked so thin and unhealthy then a designer wouldn't choose them to 'sell' their clothes in the first place. Who's to say what is too small? Two people can weigh the exact same and be the exact same height but look completely different. That said, there is no other industry in the world that could get away with refusing people work on the basis of their appearance or weight, so why should it be acceptable here?

I can see where the controversy of age can come into play. In most industries you are allowed to refuse employment to an individual because of their age. Men and women in the modeling industry are used as eye-candy in order to sell the clothes. Unless they are clearly selling children's clothes it makes me a little uneasy to think of a 16 year old being gawked at as she walks down the runway in a barely-there outfit.

So when it comes down to it, I can see how Britain would fight to ban younger models from participating in an adult fashion show but I still can't see how you can justify banning models on the basis of their weight. In my opinion, Britain has everything under control in their industry and they're making all the right decisions!