The Dutch cabinet is looking to follow France’s example and ban the promotion of anorexia by special websites targeting young girls, the Telegraaf reports on Friday.

The French parliament on Thursday approved legislation which would make it a criminal offence to encourage people to take part in extreme dieting, promoted by pro-anorexia websites.

Junior health minister Martin van Rijn told the Telegraaf he regards the issue as a very serious problem. ‘This is why I want to look into the legal options to draw up a law similar to that in France,’ he said. Some 6,000 people, mainly girls, suffer from anorexia in the Netherlands.

There are hundreds of websites promoting anorexia, telling their readers how to eat as little as possible and how to disguise the fact they have an eating disorder. They also allow girls to find ‘ana buddies’ to diet with and include photographs of thin people, labelled thinspiration.

The French legislation will allow officials to order site owners to take such information offline or face up to a year in jail.

Socialist MP Sharon Gesthuizen says a number of pro-anorexia websites are already committing criminal offences because they are encouraging mutilation.