A creation at the David Jones Autumn/Winter 2009 season launch in Sydney - Photo : Greg Wood/AFP

SYDNEY, March 3, 2009 (AFP) - Australia's government on Tuesday commissioned a group of fashion industry leaders to address "epidemic" levels of body dissatisfaction among the country's youth.

The group, to be chaired by a former editor of Australian "Cosmopolitan" magazine, Mia Freedman, will develop a voluntary code of practice for portraying body image in the media.

The clear labelling of digitally retouched or modified images, greater diversity of body shapes and sizes and mandatory model age limits are among the issues under consideration by the group.

"There is evidence that body dissatisfaction is approaching epidemic proportions among young Australians, with seven out of 10 high school girls consistently choosing an ideal figure that is thinner than their own, and only 16 per cent of young women saying they are happy with their body weight," said Youth Minister Kate Ellis.

A 2008 national survey of 45,500 Australians aged between 11 and 24 also found body image was one of the key concerns of both males and females, she said.

"This is not an attack on skinny models, it is a genuine attempt to tackle an issue that is harming our young Australians," she said.

Sarah Murdoch, a former model and daughter-in-law of global media magnate Rupert Murdoch, will sit on the group, along with a number of fashion executives and representatives from national health, media and youth groups.