The site of ultrathin fashion models walking down the ramps in France is soon going to be a thing of the past as the lawmakers in the country have voted in favor of a law banning excessively thin fashion models from the runway.

The law also calls for the imposition of heavy fine on the firms which would employ superthin models. The move is seen as an attempt by the French government curb anorexia.

The National Assembly of France on Friday supported an amendment that would forbid anybody under a certain level of body mass index, or BMI, from working as a runway model.

Those caught hiring underweight models could be fined as much as GBP 75,000 ($82,460) and face up to six months in prison.

Olivier Veran, a doctor and the Socialist deputy from southeastern France who brought the idea forward, said the main aim is to combat anorexia.

"The law is to protect models, who are getting so thin that they're in danger," Veran told The Wall Street Journal late Friday. "It's also to protect adolescents. This image of so-called ideal beauty augments the risk of eating disorders."

According to doctors a healthy BMI, which takes into account the weight and height of a person, is between 18.5 and 24.5. Veran, however, stopped short of suggesting an appropriate BMI level for models, saying it would be determined by the workplace health authority in the country.

Meanwhile, the modeling industry in France has opposed the proposed measures.

Isabelle Saint-Felix, secretary-general of SYNAM, a model agency trade organization, called the proposed amendment as "discrimination."

"Our models are thin, not sick. They are young and thin," she said. "The government forgets that the fashion industry is international. Ninety percent of our models are foreigners. How can French agencies be competitive if they're held to one standard in France that others are not in other countries?"