Thousands of Spanish women are to be invited to undergo “body scans” so that shop-window dummies will better reflect the real female form. The Health Ministry is sending out invitations to 8,500 women between the ages of 12 and 70, drawn randomly from the electoral roll.

The findings will also be used to design clothes that fit women better, as Spain breaks new ground in trying to combat eating disorders by promoting a healthier body image for girls .

The country’s largest fashion retailers have signed up to the initiative. Chains such as Zara, Mango, Bershka and Massimo Dutti have agreed to get rid of scrawny mannequins of sizes less than a European 38 — a 10 in UK terms. “The idea is that the mannequins should not falsify reality, that they should be within the range of measurement of Spanish women,” explained Domingo Roibás, a spokesman for the ministry.

Elena Salgado, the Health Minister, said: “It is unreasonable for a modern and advanced society to establish beauty stereotypes that are far removed from reality. It’s everyone’s commitment that beauty and health go hand-in-hand.”

Spain has been undergoing something of a feminist revival of late, three decades after emerging from the repressive dictatorship of General Franco. The Socialist Government of José Luis RodrÍguez Zapatero has made gender issues one of its top priorities; half the Cabinet are women. Under a new equality law, at least 40 per cent of political candidates and company directors will have to be women.

It is not just the central Government that is taking up issues dear to women. The Madrid regional government, controlled by the opposition conservative Popular Party, took the first step last year by banning overly skinny models from its Cibeles fashion show. More recently, it has also taken the lead in shutting down “pro-anorexia” websites that promote eating disorders as a life-style choice rather than a disease.

Shop dummy manufacturers have expressed surprise that their products have come under the scrutiny of Spain’s health authorities.

“Are we saying that people who are a little bit plumper are becoming anorexic because they see skinny mannequins in the windows?” asked Lars Nielsen, chief executive of Hindsgaul Mannequins, one of the world’s largest manufacturers. “There are so many sources for people to be reminded a b o u t the perfect body — I don’t think the mannequins in the window have anything to do with that.” Mr Nielsen told The Times that governments should not seek to regulate the size and shape of shop dummies, which must be able to adapt quickly to new fashions.

“What we are manufacturing is just a tool to be used in clothing stores so they can sell more clothes,” he said, “just like shelf fixtures and light fixtures and cash registers. It’s not meant to be a reproduction of the human body.”

Many Spanish women said yesterday that the ubiquitous dummies did influence the way they thought about their bodies. “It’s a good measure,” said MarÍa José, a stylish woman entering Zara on Grán VÍa, Madrid’s main shopping street. “Hopefully it will stop our girls from thinking they need to be a size 34 to be normal.”

Pressed by the Government, Spanish companies have also agreed to include size 46 clothing in their normal, rather than outsize, ranges. They will also work to standardise sizes, which can vary widely between shops. Designers should “promote a healthy physical image that conforms with the reality of the Spanish population”, the ministry said.

Raúl Estravera, a spokesman for Inditex, which owns Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti and other high street chains, commented that it was too early say if the company would change its shop dummies based on the study’s results.“Let’s see how it develops,” he said.

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