French lawmakers have moved to clamp down on the fashion industry’s use of extremely thin models and excessive image-altering.

A new bill requires ultra-thin models to produce a doctor’s certificate to prove they are healthy enough to work.

The medical certificate must prove the model’s health was assessed to be “compatible with the practice of the [modelling] profession”. The assessment includes a review of their body mass index.

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The new laws also require magazines to tag digitally altered images as being ‘touched up’ if they “make the silhouette narrower or wider”.

Breaches of the bill could result in six months imprisonment and hefty fines of up to 75,000 euros.

An earlier draft of the bill had been criticised for relying too heavily on a minimum body mass index. It also proposed a jail term for anyone promoting excessive thinness.