The Miss Universe Australia contest threw up a controversy when doctors and dietitians said that the leading finalist Staphanie Naumoska was dangerously undernourished and all “skin and bones”. Sydney model Stephanie, 19, is one of the 32 contestants out of a total of 7000 girls who made it to the finals at an event that promoted “healthy, proportioned bodies.”

Naumoska was pictured posing in a red string bikini and newspapers carried the caption “bony or beautiful” under her photos. According to health professionals at 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) she weighs just 49 kgs (108 lbs) with a body mass index of 15.1. The official index marking malnutrition is 18 and Miss Naumoska falls well below that index.

Dietician Melanie McGrice said to the press, “She would be categorized as underweight and I would certainly want to be doing an assessment of her diet to make sure she doesn’t have some type of eating disorder. She needs blood tests, diet analysis and an overall assessment.”

According to Deborah Miller, Naumoska has a Macedonian heritage that explains her extremely thin body. Miller said, “They have long, lithe bodies and small bones. It is their body type, just like Asian girls tend to be small.” However nutritionist Susie Burrell said there was no such average as a Macedonian body type. Naumoska refused to speak to the press about the matter. Naumoska was beaten by 20 year old Rachael Finch to clinch the title and Finch will represent Australia at the Miss Universe pageant in the Bahamas in August.

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