Winslet wins damages for article claiming she visited diet doctor

The actress Kate Winslet, an outspoken critic of Hollywood's "size zero" obsession, has won a public apology and libel damages from a magazine that wrongly reported she had visited a diet doctor.

Grazia, the women's glossy, had reported that Winslet discussed diet treatments at the Chinese Healing Institute in California.

Rachel Atkins, the actress's lawyer, told the High Court in London that Winslet did receive treatment from the clinic but for a neck injury and not for weight loss.

Winslet, 31, said the article suggested "she had lied to the public when she had said that she refused to bow to pressure to be skinny and celebrated her curves".

In a statement yesterday, Winslet said: "Grazia magazine have apologised to me in full, and admitted that their story was incorrect, which gives me tremendous peace of mind.

"I feel very strongly that 'curves' are natural, womanly and real. I shall continue to hope that women are able to believe in themselves for who they are inside, and not feel under such incredible pressure to be unnaturally thin.

"I have always been, and shall continue to be, honest when it comes to body/ weight issues. I don't want people to think I was a hypocrite and had suddenly gone and lost 30 pounds, which is something I would never do, and more importantly don't want to look like that."

She said she hoped her success would show girls they did not need to be thin to find happiness.

In 2003, the actress, who has become a high-profile critic of excessive dieting, spoke out when she found her own image airbrushed into a taller, slimmer model on the cover of GQ magazine. Dylan Jones, the editor of GQ, admitted the actress had approved the photographs but that they had been digitally altered afterwards. He said they had been airbrushed for improvements that did not necessarily relate to size.

"She has done many magazine covers and knows that once you've done the photos, it is out of her control," he said.

In an interview accompanying the photoshoot, Winslet had challenged those who equated thinness with sex appeal: "What is sexy? All I know from the men I've ever spoken to is that they like girls to have an arse on them ... I'm certainly not a sex symbol who doesn't eat."

And last year, she said she was so concerned by the effect magazine images may have on her daughter, Mia, she refused to have them in the house. Winslet intends to donate the "substantial" settlement to an eating disorder charity.

Battles over image

* Actress Keira Knightley has launched a libel action over a Daily Mail story which she claims suggested she has "dishonestly sought to mislead the public" about whether she has an eating disorder.

* Kate Hudson, the American actress, won a libel case with undisclosed damages against The National Enquirer at the High Court in London last year after it suggested she had an eating disorder. * Victoria Beckham has reportedly banned skinny models from catwalk shows of her fashion line to give a "positive image" to young girls. She attributed her slender frame to "controlled eating".

* Singer Joss Stone has denied losing an "unhealthy amount" of weight since moving to Los Angeles, reports say. She said: "In LA, everyone slims. But I am feeling great."