If France approves the legislation, it would almost certainly raise the debate to a new level, especially in Paris, the spiritual capital of the fashion world. An effort to pass similar provisions in 2008 failed after heavy criticism from the fashion industry.

“We can’t resolve it with a law but we can begin a public health policy to prevent and protect and limit the number of those suffering from anorexia,” said Olivier Véran, a neurologist and a member of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament.

He is the author of the anti-anorexia provision, which is part of a comprehensive health law being debated in the National Assembly. He estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 people in France suffer from anorexia.

The proposed legislation would use as its base internationally accepted body mass index standards to determine whether a model was too thin and would set criminal penalties for hiring models who fell below the standards determined by the law. The index suggests that a woman who is 5 feet 7 inches tall should weigh at least 120 pounds. But the final legal standards would be determined by the French health authorities, who could adjust them for factors such as bone size.

Violators would have to pay a fine of about $83,000 and serve as many as six months in prison.

The struggle over the appearance and health of fashion models is hardly a new one. It became more public in 2006 after the deaths of two models, a Brazilian and a Uruguayan, which set off a spate of voluntary standards in the industry and the effort in some places, including New York, to use healthier looking models.