PARIS, April 3. /TASS/. Ultra-thin models will be banned from catwalk as the French parliament voted on a healthcare draft law on Friday. People promoting "extreme thinness" could face a year in prison and a €10,000 fine.

"The activity of model is banned for any person whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is lower than levels proposed by health authorities and decreed by the ministers of health and labor," Agence France-Presse cited the bill as saying. Agencies found to employ models considered too thin face a fine of up to €75,000.

France Minister of Social Affairs and Health Marisol Touraine hailed the measure, saying excessive thinness of some models give a bad example for young people, and that "arouses concern."

The body mass index (BMI) is a measure of relative size based on the mass and height of an individual. The World Health Organization regards indicators between 18.5 and 25 as healthy weight.

Similar law banning ultra-thin models on catwalk are also in force in Spain, Italy and Israel.