AN MP has launched a major inquiry into whether laws should be passed to stop models becoming dangerously thin.

Caroline Nokes is chairing a committee on body image, that will look at the pressures facing models to slim down and how it can affect mental health.

The inquiry, which kicks off at the House of Commons on Tuesday, will hear from figures from the fashion industry, health experts and academics.

The Conservative Romsey and Southampton North MP says the inquiry will see whether the government needs to act so models are not pressured into becoming “unhealthily thin”.

Earlier this year she worked with model Rosie Nelson to help set up a petition calling on her fellow Hampshire MP and Women and Equalities Minister Caroline Dinenage to legislate to prevent models becoming “dangerously skinny”.

Rosie said she was told to slim “down to the bone” by her agency, despite being a size eight and having already lost a stone after being told to lose weight.

The Change.org petition has reached almost 100,000 signatures, which Ms Nokes says shows there is public support for action.

In her petition she said: “The agencies managing and recruiting models have a responsibility to the well-being of girls on the catwalk at fashion week, and in the industry as a whole.”

Ms Nokes said: “Sadly, Rosie’s is a story which is repeated throughout the industry. I have heard from a number of models – and parents of models – who have similar stories, and we have to ask questions about how this affects both models and the public at large.

“We know there has been an increase in people being diagnosed with eating disorders and I am keen to discover if there is a correlation between what young people are seeing on the catwalk, in advertising and magazines and how that body image is affecting their mental health.”

Other countries have already taken action on the issue, with France legislating for a minimum body mass index (BMI) for models and Italy saying they must provide health certificates.

Ms Nokes added: “I do not believe BMI is a good way of measuring health, nor do I think health certificates are the perfect way forward. I am not going into this inquiry with a predetermined idea of what I would like to see, I genuinely want to hear from everyone the experts and put together a proposal based on that information.

“The fashion industry has a very important part to play in this process, without their support this simply cannot work. However, after years of supposed self-regulation, models are returning with harrowing stories and it is clear something must change.”

A report is set to be published on the inquiry’s findings early next year.