Underweight models should be banned in Britain, MPs told

The government is facing growing calls to introduce new laws to protect the mental and physical health of fashion models.

A parliamentary group on body image is currently hearing evidence from models, agencies and health experts as it considers whether to recommend industry regulation.

Rosie Nelson, a 23-year old model, gave testimony yesterday after delivering a petition to Downing Street urging the government to protect those under pressure to be "dangerously" thin.

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She started the campaign after a UK agency told her to lose weight so that she was "down to the bone" - despite already being a size 8.

"Friends at shows saw models who fainted and had to be dragged off the stage, quickly replaced by another girl," the Australian-born model said, according to The Guardian.

"At one stage, all I ate was fruit and vegetables, nothing else. One girl I knew only ate popcorn."

MPs also heard from Dunja Knezevic, a former catwalk model and the founder of the modelling union at Equity, who said eating disorders were still commonplace despite calls for action.

"I saw queues of girls at Milan fashion week with this fur all over their bodies, what the body produces to keep warm when there is no fat left. They were covered in it and I was just mesmerised by how hairy they were," she said.

The inquiry is being led by Conservative MP Caroline Nokes who argues that the fashion industry has consistently failed to regulate itself, with "painfully thin" models still present on catwalks.

She will be considering whether to recommend that the government introduce laws similar to those already adopted in other European countries.

In France, Spain and Italy, using a model who has a body mass index (BMI) under 18 could result in jail time.

But the British fashion industry remains defiant. The editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, said it is "extremely unfair" to think that a model who is extremely skinny should not be on the catwalk.

She also said any legislation on the issue would be "completely unworkable" and "degrading" for the models, according to the Huffington Post.

"It's very easy to say that a skinny model is responsible for encouraging young women to feel bad about themselves, but I absolutely strongly believe that is not the case," said Shulman.