The Liberal Democrats have announced that people who appear in advertisements aimed at under-16s should not be airbrushed or enhanced to make them look more attractive.

They have also suggested that The Advertising Standards Authority should also create new rules so that advertisements aimed at adults should indicate if images have been airbrushed.

Jo Swinson, the party’s spokeswoman on women, has called for age-appropriate lessons on body image, health and well-being to be taught in schools. She also believes that advertising for cosmetic surgery should include information about success rates.

She told The Times “today’s unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago. Airbrushing means that adverts contain completely unattainable images that no one can live up to in real life. We need to help protect children from these pressures and we need to make a start by banning airbrushing in adverts aimed at them. The focus on women’s appearance has got out of hand — no one really has perfect skin, perfect hair and a perfect figure, but women and young girls increasingly feel that nothing less than thin and perfect will do.”