Two sisters, both models, both die of "malnutrition"

It's one thing for a mother and father to lose their child, but to lose a second child months after the first one dies, and for the same reason, is just devastating

In August 2006 while on a modeling job, model Luisel Ramos, 22 years old, died of heart failure resulting from malnutrition. Eliana Ramos, 18 years old, was found dead in her grandparent's home yesterday because of heart failure due to malnutrition.

In what I think is a complete state of denial, Pancho Dotto, the owner of the modeling agency that Eliana worked under, dispersed the idea that an eating disorder contributed to Eliana’s death. Dotto said:

“She was very healthy, she ate well and played sports. She was never extremely thin. It is absurd to talk of alimentary deficiency, anorexia, bulimia and all that. It is clear that the deaths of the Ramos sisters are due to a genetic problem and not an eating disorder.“

Other models that knew the sisters said neither one of them suffered from an eating disorder.

"I'm indignant," Lucia Brocal, a model who shared the runway with Eliana, said of local reports speculating that poor eating habits were linked to her death. "She died for the same reasons her sister did." Erika Fallen, another model, also rejected the reports. "Whenever something happens, they try to relate it to eating problems. But she died just like her sister did."

Eliana's father, however said that his daughter was only eating lettuce and diet cola in order to get thin. Her BMI was found to be below the level considered by the World Health Organization to be starvation which is 18.5. Look at this girl. She looks absolutely under weight.

Come on fashion people, wake up, open your eyes! When you get no food in your body and are skeletal thin, your heart will stop. Genetically, the girl's may have had heart conditions, but both were models, both were very thin, and the autopsy in the first sister's death said "malnutrition." Malnutrition means no food, no nutrition. The level of denial is just unbelievable to me. Absolutely unbelievable.

Many of the model girls we've been hearing of dying of over thinness, of late, are from South American countries where the modeling agencies are picking young girls like fruit at the farmer's market. These girls are literally dying to be thin, and most of them are doing it so they can help bring in money for their families. They are so desperate to stay thin so that they can continue to get modeling work.

I am just absolutely heartbroken to hear of Eliana's death. How many girls have to die before the fashion world does something drastic? When do the people get put before the clothes? Spain and Italy have put stakes in the ground, and the rest of the world has to do the same. Forget asanine "recommendations". They are an absolute waste of time. Forget about picky designers who want clothes to look as good on people as they do on hangers. People are not hangers for Pete's sake. The body is meant to be shapely and adored, not starved to death for the sake of design.