SAO PAULO, Jan 21, 2010 (AFP) - The organizers of Latin America's biggest fashion show raised the alarm Thursday 21 January over emaciated Brazilian models apparently following unhealthy US and European trends.

Models getting ready backstage during the Sao Paulo Fashion Week - Photo: AFP/File/Mauricio Lima

"We have noticed with concern that some models on our catwalks -- often the most booked -- are extremely thin. These Brazilian girls are based most of the year in Europe and in the USA where they work majorly," Paulo Borges, the creative director of the Sao Paulo Fashion Week, said in a statement.

He issued the warning after seeing models fly in to parade in this week's Brazilian fashion event and stressed he and the other organizers were intent on "preventing extreme health problems among these professionals."

The Sao Paulo Fashion Week has over the past three years introduced minimum age restrictions and a health report requirement for the agencies and design houses that book models to help create "a positive message" about modeling.

But the perceived new push towards skeletal models was a worry.

"This situation cannot be ignored," Borges said, urging those in the fashion industry to stand up against the new trend.

"We would like to propose a joint effort towards minimizing this issue and preventing the effects of this trend on models, on our industry and on society itself," he said.