Who could have predicted at the start of 2009 that sex verification in sport would have received so much front page news all over the world? As with all matters complicated, following discussion and an exchange of views, there are always more questions than answers. In particular, when biological facts are made murky by cultural and sociological influences the number of unanswered questions increase exponentially. The risk for a polarisation of views is high. An attempt has been made to answer some of these questions in the review ‘The science and management of sex verification in sport’ by Tucker and Collins, published in this edition (p. 147). This review systematically provides some background and historical context to sex verification in sport and exposes some of the biological/ medical nuances. The IAAF consensus statement and the Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine recommendations on sex verification are presented. The different foci of these statements confirm the difficulty in reaching universal consensus. Clearly, there is a need to have specific guidelines for the South African context to provide a framework of reference for any similar cases in the future. Such guidelines will surely prevent a repeat of the debacle that occurred when Athletics South Africa (ASA) mismanaged the situation that transpired at the World Championships in Berlin in August 2009. In accordance, the Department of Sport has commissioned a document that will provide guidelines for managing sex verification in the South African context. The process of compiling the guidelines is being coordinated by Dr Ramagole and the final document will be published in this journal in 2010. Perhaps these guidelines will be the ‘silver lining’, resulting from the unfortunate series of events involving ASA, and will ensure that we avoid public scrutiny and subsequent humiliation of anyone with intersex characteristics in the future. The term of the editorial board consisting of Professors Mars, Coopoo, Myburgh, Noakes, Rogers and Vaughan comes to an end with this edition of the journal. This editorial board has served for 11 years and their combined experience and wisdom has been a major factor in the growth of the journal. We thank them sincerely and trust that they will continue to support the journal in the capacity of either an author or a reviewer! In 2010 there will be some exciting changes in the journal. The online version of the journal (www.sajsm.org.za) will be promoted locally and internationally. In 2009 we had visitors to the website from 45 countries – as the website is promoted more widely we expect this to increase substantially. Next year we will also have a section that will allow readers to earn CPD points by completing an online questionnaire on the contents of papers published in that issue. Also, the president of SASMA has negotiated a deal with the British Journal of Sports Medicine that will allow us to publish selected articles from that journal. He has organised prize money for the best paper published in the journal in 2010 – more details about this will follow early next year. In short, the journal has exciting times ahead! This will coincide with the world focus on South Africa before and during the FIFA World Cup – what an opportune time to show the country and the rest of the world how sports medicine has evolved to be inextricably linked to high-performance sport. Mike Lambert Editor-in-Chief A silver lining … A topic which is receiving much publicity as I write is the banning of 5 skinny models from participating in the Madrid fashion week. Madrid’s regional govern- ment imposed the rules ‘to protect the models as well as teenagers who may develop anorexia as they try to copy underweight catwalk stars’. 1 They used a body mass index of 18 as their cut- off value. The ‘anti-thin’ move has been criticised in Paris and New York, two of the world’s leading fashion centres. However, in Italy the move was supported by the mayor who intimated that she would like to apply the same rulings when the fashion show moves to Milan. The motive for imposing the ban is noble, as the ‘skinny trend’ is not showing signs of abating. A recent report by the British Medical Association identifies a link between the images of ‘abnormally thin’ models that dominate television and magazines, and the increase in cases of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. 2 The incidence of anorexia is at an all-time high with predictions of 0 - 5% of all females having eating disorders. While eating disorders were previously usually regarded as a female syndrome, the situation is changing with a steady increase in the number of men being diagnosed with eating disorders. A recent estimate predicts that of the 60 000 people with eating disorders in the UK, 10% are male. 2 This trend can most likely be explained by the contemporary lean, hungry look of male stars. To get a snapshot view of changing body beautiful images of different eras one only has to compare the ‘hunks’ of the 1960’s movies (i.e. Sean Connery as James Bond) to modern day hunks to see how the masculine image has changed. Marilyn Monroe, with her curvy body shape in the 1950s would probably be regarded as too fat for a leading role 50 years later. While the organisers of the fashion shows should be complimented for taking a bold stand against their skinny, unhealthy-looking models, they can be criticised for the way in which they have gone about it. Using a body mass index of 18 as a cut-off value is inappropriate and may penalise some models who live normal healthy lives. Instead of this approach the organisers should establish a structure that evaluates the health status of the models including their eating, sleeping and substance abuse habits and make decisions accordingly. The information on how to do this is available; it just needs to be applied. This third issue of the journal for 2006 has 4 interesting papers. The first paper by Professor Mars and colleagues examines the cooling of skin, subcutaneous fat and muscle with an icepack, at rest and after short-duration exhaustive exercise. This study produced some interesting results with important clinical applications. The next paper by Ian Cook examines the accuracy of different types of pedometers. It is well known that people who use pedometers are encouraged to be more physically active, so therefore there is great value in making pedometers available to the general public. However, the enthusiasm to make and distribute pedometers has exceeded the concern about their accuracy. This study addresses this point with a comprehensive research design. The results make a valuable contribution to the literature. The third paper, by Dr McHardy and colleagues from Macquarie Injury Management Group, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, is a clinician’s perspective of the modern and classic golf swing. This paper is relevant to sports physicians, biokineticists and physiotherapists and provides a clear analysis of the different types of golf swing and their possible link to injury, particularly lower back pain. Finally the paper by Dr Draper and her colleagues describes the state of the fitness industry in South Africa. This comprehensive study gathered data from 442 facilities around the country. The data provide an important benchmark for the state of the industry and will make a significant contribution to the development of perceived weaknesses in the industry. Mike Lambert Editor-in-Chief 1. Milan fashionistas fear Spanish skinny model ban. news.yahoo.com/s/ nm/20060914/od_nm/italy_models_dc (accessed 18 September 2006) 2. The changing shape of the model. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/769460.stm (ac- cessed 18 September 2006) Skinny fashion – a role for sports medicine? SAJSM voL 18 No. 3 2006 57 editoriAL pg57.indd 57 9/21/06 12:15:22 PM editoriAL 146 SAJSM voL 21 No. 4 2009