A coroner has called on fashion magazines to "stop picturing very thin girls" following the death of a bulimic teenager.
Fiona Geraghty, 14, hanged herself after being taunted about her weight by school bullies.
At the inquest in Taunton, Somerset yesterday, Coroner Michael Rose recorded a verdict of misadventure before going on to attack the magazine industry's glamourisation of 'wafer thin' Size Zero models.
He said:
The prevalence of eating disorders in young people did not exist before the 70s. "From that period, the fashion industry promoted the thin figure. For their vanity, families like this suffer.
Although he said Vogue had banned underweight models, Mr Rose added: "I would ask the magazine industry to stop picturing very thin girls – because at the end of the day, Fiona and others like her have suffered."
Fiona was found hanging from a rope in her parents' home in July last year.
PA Fiona Geraghty's parents
Her mother, Dr Elspeth Geraghty, said her daughter had a fear of puberty and growing into a woman.
She had been receiving treatment for her eating disorder at the time of her death but the teenager's suicide risk had only been put at one in 10, she said.
Her parents said her bulimia was caused by taunts from her peers over her weight.