Medical checks for ultra-skinny models but no catwalk ban

But women suffering from eating disorders could still be allowed to work.

A major inquiry into model health called for a raft of measures to force the industry to "grow up".

It failed to recommend a ban on size-zero women but called for urgent action to protect "vulnerable young girls".

Critics said today's recommendations were "outrageously weak" and would have little effect.

The long-awaited Model Health Inquiry report comes only a day before the start of London Fashion Week.

It exposes the massive pressures put on models to be an unhealthy weight.

The report makes 14 recommendations for the industry, including the need for compulsory medical certificates. But the proposals say models should pay for their own "good health" tests for London Fashion Week.

The chairman of the inquiry, Baroness Kingsmill, said models who are ill should not be banned from the catwalk if they are receiving treatment. "This is about making sure people with eating disorders are identified and get the right treatment," she said.

Other measures include:

A catwalk ban on girls under 16.
Random drug testing.
Major research into the extent of eating disorders.

The report - Fashioning a Healthy Future - also called for an end to digital doctoring of photographs that promote an "unachievable" image.

Up to four in 10 models are reckoned to suffer from anorexia, bulimia or other eating problems but the panel, which includes the model Erin O'Connor, has dropped original proposals for a model agency licensing scheme after opposition from Government.

Its medical certificate scheme - to be in place by September next year - also falls short of plans already under way in Italy where any model with a disclosed eating disorder is banned from working.

Dee Doocey, the Lib-Dem assembly member who has campaigned against size zero, said: "A full ban on size zero is still the only way forward. It is an outrage that models are being asked to fund the health-checks themselves."

Panel experts admitted that the measures are not guaranteed to work.

Baroness Kingsmill slammed the fashion world for allowing young girls to be exploited. "Just because modelling is seen as glamorous, [the industry] seems to think it is outside normal health and safety issues," she said.

"But it is time it started taking care of its workers."

Hilary Riva, chief executive of the council, said she supported certificates of health. "As a global industry we hope we can deliver change which is both effective and enforceable," and Stuart Rose, the council's chairman and chief executive of Marks & Spencer added: "We will have to take the recommendations on board, and take seriously our responsibilities to those who work in the industry."

The inquiry was set up in March after the death of two models from anorexia - including Brazilian Ana Carolina Reston - triggered an international scandal over size-zero, equivalent to a UK size four or a 22in waist.

The Evening Standard led a campaign for London to follow Madrid and Milan with a ban on ultra-skinny women, backed by experts from the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Dr Adrienne Key, a psychiatrist who specialises in eating disorders, said: "This will only work if the industry takes these recommendations on board, but it is very exciting to be at the beginning of this process."