Meet Romanian woman who has 20-inch waist

London - A Romanian woman has a waist with a diameter of just 20 inches - only 5 inches bigger than a CD - while her hips measure 32 inches.

Ioana, 30, is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs only six stones, even though she says that she eats three square meals a day and snacks all the time.

“No one seems to believe it, but every day I eat three big meals and I snack on chocolate and crisps all the time. I just have a small stomach. It’s a bit like having a natural gastric band - if I eat too much, I feel sick,” the Sun quoted her as saying.

Ioana weighed more than seven pounds at birth. It was only as she became a teenager that she started to look different.

“When I was 13 my waist was around 15 inches. Someone could put their hands around it, their fingers would touch and they would still have extra room,” she said.

Due to her unusual appearance she struggled with self-esteem even in her 20s.

In 2006 she met a German holidaymaker called Jan. They dated for eight months before marrying in Berlin.

“Jan was the first person who saw me as beautiful and encouraged me to celebrate my body. He asked me to pose in some photos for him… He was so impressed he put them online and the response was amazing,” she said.

“I would still like to gain weight so I don’t look so shocking - and now that I live in Germany I can’t get enough pizza or kebabs.

“But I’m finally comfortable in my own skin,” she added.