The Council of Fashion Designers of America has recently initiated a set of new health guidelines in lieu of the New York Fashion Week.

The new measures work to promote awareness of eating disorders in the modeling industry, as well as to encourage education on nutrition and lifestyle decisions. One of the main goals is to relate the “overwhelming concern about whether some models are unhealthily thin and whether or not to impose restrictions in such cases.”

According to CNN, this year’s Spring 2012 New York Fashion Week’s models will be the first to walk the runway under the new guidelines, which include tobacco and alcohol free backstage areas, healthy meals, snacks and water provided throughout the shows, and a 16+ age restriction. The measure also requires models with eating disorders to pause their careers and seek help until they are approved to resume work.

The new guidelines are part of the fashion industry’s recent recognition of the serious issue. The National Eating Disorders Association is also involved in the efforts to make a change, stating that the fashion industry is one of the main causes of eating disorders in young women.

“Designers share a responsibility to protect women, and very young girls in particular, within the business, sending the message that beauty is health,” CFDA said in a statement.