Elle Editor Defends Disturbing Diet

CRUMB SNATCHER Slowey The fashion industry's suddenly in a tizzy about whether models are eating enough—but maybe it should be more concerned about fashion editors.

For this week's issue, New York magazine asked Elle editor Anne Slowey, along with several others, to keep a diary of everything they ate during a stretch of Fashion Week. By her own account, over a period of three days, Slowey consumed barely enough actual food to fill a single dinner plate. (The closest thing she had to an actual meal was two ounces of ceviche and some chips and dip.) The majority of her calories came from alcohol, with iced skim lattes running a strong second. For actual nutrients, Slowey relied on a daily battery of supplements.

Dr. Cynthia Bulik, director of the Eating Disorders Program at the University of North Carolina, calls Slowey's diet diary "very worrying." (Bulik, as it happens, is quoted in the preceding story in New York on the skinny-model controversy.) "This is definitely not a healthy, balanced diet," Bulik says. "All of these supplements can't replace the nutrients found in food. Not only that, but the level of detail that she recalled—'three olives, two tidbits, one tidbit'—suggests there is some serious over-monitoring going on."