THE stunning photograph of Kate Winslet that adorns the front cover of GQ magazine may not be all it seems.

Magazine editor Dylan Jones has admitted that the picture was digitally altered to slim down Winslet's womanly curves.

"Various parts have been improved, including her stomach and legs," he admitted.

Winslet, famous for her fuller figure that bucks the celebrity trend for thin, thin, thin, has always made clear she is happy with the way she looks.

And while Jones insists she saw the images before publication, Winslet herself admits she is concerned about 'excessive' retouching of media pictures to present a perfect image.

"Women strive to look like this idea of perfection - but it isn't real," she said.

It's not just waif-like celebrities, their images digitally manipulated or not, that are the problem.

At this time of year, magazines are full of diets and exercise tips aimed at encouraging us to shed the pounds.

So is there simply too much pressure on women, and men to be thin?

Di Keal, 42, former social worker and mother of three daughters

"Speaking as somebody who has struggled all her life with weight, I think definitely. You are put under excessive pressure. I am a mother of three daughters, one of whom is just entering her teens and who is already feeling the pressure.

You should be able to be who you are and be happy with who you are. I've got girls so I think about them, but it affects boys as well. It is too much for them. Life is difficult enough without having to constantly battle with food.

The kids' magazines are full of thin girls, but as long as you're happy and healthy, that's what matters. There are all sorts of stories about models existing by eating virtually nothing because they have to keep up this image. When they hit their late 40s they're going to get osteoporosis because they are not getting the nutrients you need. It is very unhealthy, mentally as well as physically. It becomes an obsession.

There are more important things in life. I would rather my daughters were healthy and happy than obsessive about their figure."

June Tranmer, 48, acupuncturist and mother of two grown up children

"We do seem as a species to have a fascination with each other's bodies. As far as I'm concerned, people should look at being healthy. Whether that's thin, fat, tall or short doesn't matter.

Nobody should be copying someone else's shape or style willy nilly.

People should make their own minds up, not try to copy these icons.

We should listen to our own instincts, our own intuitions and our own bodies. There's nothing wrong with being a sensible size.

Look at Dawn French. She's fantastic, amazing. I couldn't possibly judge anyone who is a particular shape or size just by looking at them.

What may be right for me might not be right for them.

These magazines do worry me.

The pictures are never pictures of these people as they really are.

Whether their figures have been digitally enhanced or not, their faces usually are.

So it is not a real representation of that person and if people are trying to copy that they are copying something that's not real in the first place.

People should just be allowed to be who they are."

Updated: 10:29 Tuesday, January 14, 2003