"I never suffered from this problem (anorexia) because I had a very strong family base. Parents are responsible, not the fashion industry," she said in the Friday edition of O Globo newspaper.

Gisele, 26, was visiting her native Brazil this week for Fashion Rio, which has banned models who are under the age of 16 and has required proof of their good health after the death of a Brazilian model from complications due to starvation last year.

In September, Spain barred models below a certain weight from Madrid fashion shows, while the Italian government and its fashion chiefs signed a pact to keep sickly thin girls off the catwalk.

The former girlfriend of Leonardo DiCaprio, who was ranked 16 on Forbes list of the 20 richest women in entertainment this week, said being a model is a question of genetics.

"Everybody knows that the norm in fashion is thin. But excuse me, there are people born with the right genes for this profession," she said.

Gisele said that as a child her peers teased her for being skinny with names like Olive Oil, the character from the Popeye cartoon.

"In fashion I felt accepted ... I never felt lonely because I always relied on my family."