Ana Carolina Reston

Who was Ana Carolina Reston?

Ana Carolina Reston Macan was a Brazilian fashion model.

Reston was born to a middle-class family in Jundiaí, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil. At the age of 13, she began her modeling career after winning a local beauty contest in her hometown. She was represented by renowned modeling agencies such as Ford, Elite and L'Équipe in countries such as China, Turkey, Mexico, and Japan, and has appeared in prestigious ad campaigns such as Giorgio Armani.

In January 2004 Reston made her first overseas trip to Guangzhou, China. While attending a casting call there, she was reportedly informed that she was 'too fat', a criticism, it has been said, that led to her decline into anorexia nervosa.

At the time of her death, Reston weighed just 40 kg at a height of 1.73 m, and had been hospitalized since October 25, 2006, for kidney malfunction due to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, which included a diet consisting only of apples and tomatoes. She had a body mass index of only 13.4, well below the index value of 16 which the World Health Organization considers to be severe thinness. Her condition became more serious and deteriorated into generalized infection that led to her death at the age of 21.