Winslet and Piper join attack on size-zero models

The curvy stars of Titanic and Doctor Who are the latest celebrities to condemn the pressure on women to pursue size-zero figures.

Kate Winslet described the trend as "unbelievably disturbing" yesterday while Billie Piper says in the January edition of Glamour magazine that it is "disgusting".

The debate over under-weight models has been raging since the death last month of Ana Carolina Reston, 21, a Brazilian model who suffered from anorexia. In August, a Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos, 22, died of heart failure after not eating for several days.

Winslet, 31, said she refused to have any magazines showing skinny stars in her house because of the damaging effect it could have on her six-year-old daughter, Mia. "It's only a matter of time before she becomes aware of it and it frightens the life out of me," the former Oscar nominee said on the BBC's Sunday AM.

"Young girls are impressionable from 11 up to 19 or 20 even," she said. "They're trying to figure out who they are and they want to be loved, and what I resent is that there is an image of perfection that is getting thinner and thinner."

Winslet, whose new film The Holiday was released at the weekend, said she hoped that, with her Hollywood success, she could be a role model for girls: "I'm a normal person. I'm doing all right. I've got a lovely husband and children, and I didn't lose weight to find those things."

Piper, 24, who has suffered from anorexia, said she was worried that teenagers were looking up to "tiny" celebrities such as Victoria Beckham.

"The whole size-zero debate is disgusting," said the pop singer and former Doctor Who sidekick. "Some models you see are tiny because that's the way they were born, but then they'll get the attention and that will start feeding a fire.

"My sister, who is 13, looks amazing, but she's already worried about her figure. She loves Posh and I say, 'Come on Ellie, she's tiny. What's wrong with Shakira? She's sexy, curvy. But she has no interest."