The bill reflects concerns about pro-anorexic (so-called pro-ana) websites, said to encourage extreme weight loss. But Boyer said the legislation's impact would be wide-ranging.

The bill is the latest in a series of measures to be proposed following the 2006 anorexia-linked death of a Brazilian model prompted efforts to tackle eating disorders within the fashion industry.

Didier Grumbach, president of the influential French Federation of Couture, said: "Never will we accept in our profession that a judge decides if a young girl is skinny or not skinny. That doesn't exist in the world, and it will certainly not exist in France."

Marleen S Williams, a psychology professor at Brigham Young University in Utah, who researches the media's effect on anorexic women, said it was almost impossible to prove that the media causes eating disorders.

She said studies showed fewer eating disorders in "cultures that value full-bodied women". But she added that she fears the new French law,

As a model for Oscar Myer,I could not agree more.

Models for Coddles

Yes, this is one of government's mandates. I believe it is the constitution. Make sure people don't get too skinny.

Hooray for common sense and "normal" women!