No role model: Miss Universe pageant attacked over 'malnourished' beauty queen



She was hoping to represent her country in the Miss Universe contest, and she certainly had a figure that turned heads.



Unfortunately for Stephanie Naumoska, and to the consternation of health experts, it was for all the wrong reasons.



Critics said the 19-year-old was just skin and bone. With her 31-25-35 measurements she seemed to have trouble filling her already skimpy bikini as she paraded before the judges at the Australian finals of the pageant in Sydney.

Stephanie Naumoska in the Australia finals of the Miss Universe contest: Her ribs and hip bones are clearly visible

The model (centre) poses with other contestants

She was tall enough - at 5ft 10in - to be the perfect height for a model but what has alarmed health experts is her weight.



She weighs only 7st 7lb and has a Body Mass Index of 15.1 - and that, by World Health Organisation standards, means she is malnourished.



Her BMI should be between 18.5 and 24.9 to fall into the 'average' category.

When the pageant organisers were asked why they had allowed Miss Naumoska to parade before the cameras when her ribs and pelvic bones could be seen protruding alarmingly, an official reply was that her look was all to do with her heritage.



'She's Macedonian,' said one official.



But a spectator at the event at the Hilton Hotel commented: 'Side on, if you didn't look carefully enough, you could miss her - she was that thin.'



Dieticians urged the Sydney model to seek urgent medical attention because she was dangerously underweight.



Healthy? Miss Naumoska, seen here in a photoshoot, claims she eats well and is not unhealthy

Health expert Melanie McGrice said she was well under the World Health Organisation benchmark for malnutrition and added: '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 said Miss Naumoska needed urgent blood tests, diet analysis and a general body assessment.



Even Australian politicians have joined in the debate.

Carmel Tebutt, the acting premier of New South Wales, said that allowing her to enter the contest when she looked so disturbingly thin sent the wrong message to young women who looked up to glamorous models.



'The main thing is to encourage girls and young women to put health before thinking about trying to fit into a particular type of body image,' she said.

The Australian Medical Association called on pageant organisers to impose a minimum Body Mass Index of 20.

In this swimwear shoot, the model appears less bony and a healthier weight

But officials said too much emphasis was being placed on Miss Naumoska's lifestyle rather than her ethnic background.



Deborah Miller, director of the contest, said the model blamed her Macedonian heritage for her thin appearance.



'The women do have long, lithe bodies and small bones,' she said. 'It's their body type, just as Asian girls tend to be rather small.



'She doesn't have an eating disorder or anything like that. There's nothing wrong with her.'



But nutritionist Susie Burrell said: 'Macedonian body? I've not seen anything like that anywhere to support that.



'What I see in the photos is muscle wastage on the upper arm and legs.'



Miss Naumoska was beaten in the final by 21-year-old TV presenter and model Rachel Finch, who at 5ft 9in and measuring 34-24-34 appeared to have just a little more flesh than her skinny rival.

Winner: Rachael Finch beat Miss Naumoska to be crowed Miss Universe in the Australian leg of the contest



