Ever since Twiggy appeared on the modeling scene in the UK back in the 60's we have had a never-ending line of models who look as though they are in the grip of chronic anorexia. When you watch some of the more ethereal specimens on the catwalks of Paris, you half expect a spontaneous fracture or dislocated pelvis from pressure of strutting - so much bone, so little tissue.

Rake thin models look androgynous, which I suppose is the point. The mystery of sexual ambiguity and all that. Some look like heroin users - others like walking Oxfam ads designed to draw people's attention to the plight of global hunger. It can get tragic too. Models Luisel Ramos and Carolina Reston, both died due to complications arising from lack of nourishment.

You imagine dinner for these women being a cracker with lettuce shreds, followed by a sesame wafer and three sunflower seeds. All that effort to look well ... bony.

It may be a look that translates well into photographs - but being a sort of biological dress rack isn't sexy. Truly sexy women have curves in all the right places. For example internationally renowned belly dancers Sahra Saeeda and Nesrin Topkapi exude female power and beauty in ways that would challenge the Thinistas .

The health issues associated with maintaining a spectral look are potentially hazardous, and there have been moves in Europe to change the perception that thin is chic. In Spain the government and fashion chains have reached an agreement that female store dummies should at the very least be a size 10.

The move is also an attempt to cater to reality. Most women don't look like Gemma Ward, so it seems counter productive to use ultra-skinny models as a retail incentive.

The measures being taken by the Spanish go beyond window displays. Models have actually been banned from working for being too thin. Last year two fashion shows banned models whose body mass index was below 18. In the case of a model who is 1.75 meters (5 ft 7 inches), she has to weigh at least 55 kg.