Celeb mum forced to defend herself against online critics labelling her children 'too thin' and 'starving'

A celebrity mum has been forced to defend herself against harsh online critics, after a photo she posted of her two sons led users to say they looked 'too thin' and 'starving'.

Mum-of-three Kristin Cavallari, who rose to fame in hit US show Laguna Beach, shared the holiday snap to her Instagram account showing two of her boys playing in the sea with her partner, Jay Cutler.

However, social media users were quick to post harsh words about the snap. One wrote: 'Feed your children', another said: 'Holy crap... You are starving these children! WAke Up!' while another added: 'They are super skinny!'.

One commenter even wrote: 'Wow. I want to like this picture but for obvious reasons I can't. Please look into feeding your babies'

In fact, the picture received so many comments from people saying her boys looked 'malnourished' that Kristin was forced to defend herself, and then block a number of social media users from her account.

'Yep, I starve my children,' she wrote in the comments section of her post. 'Just blocked the most people I've ever blocked in my entire life. Happy 4th hahaha.'

Many of the mum's 2.2m followers have been quick to jump to her defence, posting messages of support for the star. One wrote: 'I have healthy 8 year old twins that eat all day & look like this! Beautiful boys!' and another added: 'They're perfect! My boys are just as bony and their bmi chart puts them in the obese category!!! Can't win for losing.'

Kristin is no stranger to sharing snaps of her kids online, and is an advocate of healthy eating and exercise.

In her book, Balancing in Heels, the star revealed that she switched her kids to goat's milk formula after she stopped breastfeeding, and has banned GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in her house.

'I truly believe that everything I need to flourish nutritionally is found in nature and that some stuff just shouldn't be messed with, especially the food I'm putting in my body,' she wrote.