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PARIS - IN AN attempt to combat anorexia in young women, the French National Assembly yesterday adopted a Bill that would make it a crime to promote 'excessive thinness' or prolonged and extreme dieting.
Advertisers, publications and managers of Internet sites and blogs could be held accountable for encouraging or defending anorexia.
Offenders could face up to two years in prison and US$47,000 (S$64,000) in fines. Stiffer penalties would be set for those whose incitement to extreme dieting results in a person's death or suicide.
Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said the legislation would help stop messages disseminated on the Internet via pro-anorexia websites providing advice to girls on how to become ultra-skinny.
'These messages are death messages. Our country must be able to prosecute those who are hiding behind these websites,' she told lawmakers.
However, most left-wing opposition deputies abstained from voting, with some calling the Bill repressive.
'Criminalising behaviour has no place in public health policy,' said Communist Party lawmaker Jacqueline Fraysse.
The Senate will take up the government-sponsored Bill next month. The language of the draft French law and its penalties are similar to a law that makes it illegal to incite someone to commit suicide.
For several years, French lawmakers have been grappling with ways to stop a proliferation of Internet sites and advice forums that endorse anorexic behaviour.
Some such sites hold contests for the fastest weight loss in the shortest possible time.
Many people who post comments argue that anorexia is a personal choice, and that governments should leave anorexics alone.
The French Health Ministry estimates that 30,000 to 40,000 young women are anorexic to some degree.
The country's fashion industry, an important component of its economy and image, has opposed an outright ban on excessively thin models.
Instead, industry groups pledged publicly last week to stop sending the message to women that only skinny bodies are beautiful.
In France, fashion models are already required to have their body mass tested regularly, while Spain has made it mandatory for fashion models to meet a certain body-mass standard, aimed at eliminating those who are exceptionally thin.
The authorities have even banned several rail-thin models from catwalks and closed down several Internet sites over the past year.
In Italy, a recent advertisement discouraging eating disorders caused huge controversy. The ads showed Isabelle Caro, an emaciated French woman who admits she is anorexic, posing nude.
Several of the most famous families in France have gone public regarding their own problems with anorexic daughters.
Former president Jacques Chirac's eldest daughter, Laurence, has battled anorexia for many years.
Meanwhile, well-known French news anchor Patrick Poivre d'Arvor wrote a best-selling book about the anorexia issues faced by his 19-year-old daughter, who eventually committed suicide.
sachs_susan@yahoo.com
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