Unilever, the company which introduced normal-sized women in its Dove ads, has banned the use of size zero models in its global advertising campaigns.
The company, which owns products including Lynx deodorant, Persil detergent and PG Tips, said that all brand directors and ad agencies it worked with would be expected to use a Body Mass Index of between 18.5 and 25 as a "guideline" for selecting actors and models for campaigns.
The BMI range is in accordance with United Nations guidelines on health.
However, the company qualified this by stating that it would "not impose a strict criteria for models and actors".
Today's announcement comes as part of an overhaul of Unilever's global marketing practices that includes restricting advertising to children.
Unilever has also announced that the only food and drinks ads it targets at children aged six to 11 will be for healthier products.
This builds on the company's announcement last year of a voluntary restriction on advertising to children under the age of six.
Unilever owns ice cream brands including Wall's, the Wall's kids' range - which includes Calippo, Kids Feast and Twister - Ben & Jerry's, Magnum and Solero.
The company is the second largest advertiser in the UK with an annual spend of £162m according to Nielsen Media Research figures.
"As a responsible company Unilever has adopted a new global guideline that will require that all of its future marketing communications should not use models or actors that are either excessively slim or promote 'unhealthy' slimness," said Ralph Kugler, the president of home and personal care at Unilever.
Vindi Banga, the president of foods at Unilever, added that it was a "further step in responding to growing concerns about rising levels of obesity and dietary deficiency - particularly among children".
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