Beiruting News

France is inching closer to a ban on the use of skinny models, a trend which one leading MP has branded the 'glorification of anorexia'.

Socialist politician Olivier Veran, who is also neurologist at the University Hospital of Grenoble, is demanding that fashion bosses who hire underweight girls be punished with six months in prison or fines of up to €75,000 (£60,000).

He has proposed that models should be required to present medical certificates demonstrating a healthy body mass index (BMI), which is calculated by dividing one's weight by the square of one's height.

Mr Veran told French daily Le Parisien: 'It's intolerable to promote malnutrition and to commercially exploit people who are endangering their own health.

'A level of acceptable body mass index should be set and enforced. Websites encouraging young girls to lose weight should also be banned".