Models in France will need to prove they are fit to work by providing medical certificates from their doctor.

The move comes after a new law was introduced banning "excessively thin" models.

France's health minister introduced the new rules on Friday, saying they were aimed at preventing anorexia by stopping the promotion of inaccessible ideals of beauty.

Marisol Touraine said: "Exposing young people to normative and unrealistic images of bodies leads to a sense of self-depreciation and poor self-esteem that can impact health-related behaviour."

Paris has a leading role in the fashion industry and the rules are likely to have a symbolic effect around the world.

London-based model Rosalie Nelson, 25, has been fronting a campaign to change the law in the UK "to protect models from getting dangerously skinny".

She previously told ITV News that she had been inspired by her own experience of - despite only being a size eight to 10 - being told she needed to lose weight "down to the bone".

She said she wants agencies to stop pushing girls to use drastic weight loss methods to achieve the desired 35-inch hips, and instead promote health and nutrition.