This aspiring young Italian model has died of anorexia aged just 17 after a diet that consisted largely of boiled water.

Giulia Scaffidi went into a coma at 5am on 25th November and died seven hours later. She would have turned 18 years old in a month’s time.

According to Italy24 News, Scaffidi weighed just 26 kilogrammes (4.09 stone) in her last few months of life.

Her brother Tony, 37, told local media: “Beware false messages coming from the world of fashion influencers and social media. If you aspire to be more beautiful, it will not happen by giving up food.

“She was one of those models who, in a desperate search for physical perfection, lived a life of deprivation.

“They work for hours and hours without ever stopping, they don’t eat anything all day, not even take a coffee. I don’t know how they hold up.”

Scaffidi was first hospitalised for four months in the Italian city of Piacenza, but soon after she was discharged, her “obsession started again”, according to Tony, who added: “She did not eat, she only drank boiling water.”

Tony also said that his sister “ran up and down the stairs in the middle of the night to keep fit”.

Shortly after her first hospitalisation, the wannabe model was admitted to two other health centres in Milan, according to her mother Elena, who added: “She was confined to a small room for five months to avoid catching COVID. It was hell.”

Elena told other aspiring models to “avoid seeing the goal of achieving the ‘perfect shape’ as sacrificing food. It is also beautiful to carry a few extra pounds.”

She added: “I am ready to help others if needed, and show photos of how Giulia looked so other girls do not make the same mistake.”