A new anti-anorexia code will be presented to the Italian fashion world on December 14 as part of a bid to stop catwalks passing on the message that ultra thin is beautiful.
A key requirement of the new code is that models will have to have a body mass index of at least 18, which is the number laid down by the World Health Organisation as marking the line between 'normal' and 'underweight'.
Models, who must be at least 16 years old, will also be expected to present a medical certificate showing they are in good mental and physical health.
Unlike the recent anti-anorexia measures taken in Spain, where excessively skinny models have been legally banned from catwalks, nothing will be enforced by law.
"Whoever signs the code will be making a commitment. We hope that this action will produce the effects we want," said Tiziana Maiolo, the Milan councillor most closely involved in drawing up the standards.
After weeks of discussion a panel representing the various sides of the fashion industry has come up with a set of standards that everyone in the business will be asked to sign.
By signing the code stylists, agencies, photographers and agents will promise to see that the rules are observed, each in their own corner of the industry.
In the wake of the recent death of an anorexic Brazilian model, there was intense concern in the Italian fashion industry that action should be taken to prevent similar tragedies here.
Youth Minister Giovanna Melandri has also taken a keen interest in the matter, seeing greater responsibility in the fashion world as a key part of combatting a rise in slimming diseases among girls and young women.
"I want the industry to cooperate in promoting models of beauty that are based on healthy lifestyles," the minister said.
She said designers should be encouraged to work with more realistic body shapes and images.
Several studies have shown that fashion and media portrayals of an overly thin ideal put pressure on young women and have contributed to rising eating disorder rates.
Some 3 million Italians or 5% of the population suffer from such disorders, the vast majority of them women.
According to recent statistics, 8-10% of teenage girls and almost 1% of teenage boys suffer from anorexia or bulimia or both.
Maiolo said that the role of the media would be crucial in changing the message that young people receive from fashion runways. She said collaboration shouldn't be a problem because Milan is Italy's publishing capital as well as its fashion capital.
"We're asking editors and publishers to sign the code," she noted, adding that a preliminary agreement had already been reached with the national federation of newspaper publishers, FIEG.
In the wake of the recent controversy over stick-like models, ASM, the body representing Italy's top modelling agencies, required all models taking part in Milan Fashion Week to produce certificates showing they were in good health.
The organisers of Rome's fashion fest in January have already announced that they want "fleshier" models on the runway.
