by Rebecca Borison Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli, newly crowned the hottest woman in the world by Maxim magazine, will likely be relieved to know that, at 5'8" and 127 pounds, she meets the requirements of the new Israeli law mandating that models maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI). The law, passed in March, requires models to provide a recent medical report at every photo shoot that shows that the model is healthy and has a BMI above 18.5. In order to maintain that BMI, a 5’8” model would need to weigh above 119 pounds.While individual fashion shows have started to issue similar rules, this seems to be the first government-mandated regulation in the world. Lawmakers in Israel hope that the law will show young girls that being unhealthily thin is not desirable. According to a 2000 World Health...

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