I FEEL sorry for the ladies who are constantly bombarded by images of thin, almost bulimic women on TV, in films and other media.

Thinness is not the norm, so why don't producers, editors and the like -- especially when fashion is involved -- show more of a cross-section?

Why is it that they stress thin is in, plump it out?

It's hardly a good thing for the young girls who seek to emulate these role models and stars, munching away on lettuce leaves and crackers, while their mothers watch them waste away in their efforts.

People like Lisa Riley from Emmerdale and Vanessa, the chat show hostess, are exceptions, but do they not do their job as well as their often-scrawny counterparts?

K SOWERBUTTS (Mr), Southwood Drive, Baxenden.