French MPs have approved tough measures in an attempt to combat anorexia that will make it a crime for fashion agencies to use dangerously thin or undernourished models.

Members of the lower house of parliament also voted on Friday for measures that will make it illegal to promote anorexia on the internet and will oblige agencies to clearly mark all photographs of models that have been retouched to alter their body shape.

The legislation will attempt to impose an as-yet-unspecified minimum body mass index (BMI) for models employed by agencies, who will be under threat of prison and a fine for flouting the law.

Although the measures will only apply within France, they will have a symbolic impact on the fashion industry given Paris’s role within it.

French health minister Marisol Touraine supported the ban on overly thin models – most of whom are women – presented as an amendment to her health bill, saying their use was worrying.

Source: France votes to ban ultra-thin models in crackdown on anorexia | Fashion | The Guardian