Source: xinhuanet.com

Five models were banned from participating in Madrid's annual fashion show, which begins today, Spanish media reports said.

The show, known as the Pasarela Cibeles, had determined earlier this month not to permit women below a prearranged body mass index to display down the catwalk.

This is the first time managers of a fashion show have applied weight limits set by the World Health Organization and for those of the 44th "Pasarela Cibeles" said their decision was also based on a Spanish regional law look at fighting anorexia, a sometimes deadly disease in which women starve themselves to be thin.