Three models have been sent home from Spain's top fashion show after being rejected as too thin.

The week-long Cibeles show in Madrid, which started yesterday, bans models with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18, believing them to set an unhealthy ideal for teenage girls. The three models rejected by the organisers had a BMI of less than 16.

"A BMI of 16 is extremely low," said Susana Monereo, a nutritionist and endocrinologist who weighed the 70 models due to appear at the show. Organisers refused to name the models, and said that they were not necessarily in danger. "Their health might be OK, but their appearance is extremely thin," Dr Monereo said.

[TOL]