French Women Can No Longer Boast About Svelte Figures

[nobimbo]

Posted on 16 Oct 2005 # ANI


French women can no longer boast about svelte figures

London: A new official health statistics has broken the Gallic myth that “French Women Don’t Get Fat” despite binging on food and wine, as they do and in ever-increasing number.

Recent statistics from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Britain showed that 11 per cent of French adults are now obese, with the rate even slightly higher among women.

“At this rate, the situation in France will be like that in the United States, where two in three people are now either overweight or obese,” said an official from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research.

Indeed, experts calculate that, if the French keep eating at their current pace, obesity will continue to climb at a rate of 5 per cent or more a year, and the country will have closed the fatness gap with the US by 2020.

The latest figures somewhat fly in the face of the latest wave of diet books, mainly American, which have hit the best-seller lists in recent months, all vaunting the miraculous weight-loss qualities of the French diet.

One of the most successful, Mireille Guiliano’s French Women Don’t Get Fat, shares with readers the secrets of staying slim the French way - lots of fresh vegetables, small portions and long walks. But even Ms Guiliano has been forced to admit that perhaps the title is a little too sweeping. In France, it is called Those French Women Who Don’t Get Fat, a concession that some - perhaps many - do.

The reason for the growing weight problem is simple, a change in traditional eating habits. The French may suffer from knee-jerk anti-Americanism in political matters, but when it comes to burgers, pizza and chips, they love fast food as much as anyone else.

The government is particularly concerned by figures which show that obesity among children has doubled in the past five years - 4 per cent of French children are considered clinically obese while a further 14 per cent are overweight.

Vincent Boggio, a paediatrician at Dijon hospital in eastern France who has treated hundreds of overweight children, says even those from well-off homes are at risk.

“There are greater numbers of fat children because our society is becoming wealthier, and children are walking less and being driven more,” he said.

“And they’re solicited all the time to eat,” he added.

The French, however, are determined to win the battle of the bulge. Last month, the government banned vending machines selling soft drinks and food from state schools and next year it will become the first in Europe to impose mandatory health messages on all TV and radio adverts promoting processed food.

http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?a...llnews&id=36538

[watcher16]

The (American?) multi-nationals enslave the common people everywhere in the world, nowhere you can be safe for them...

[quax]

The top two junk-food producers:

Nestle -> CH
Unilever -> UK/NL

[bsheets]

It had to happen sooner or later ...

this is a world problem I'm thinking, not just a regional one. It'll keep creeping across until it's ACTUALLY stopped!

e

[ysabella]

I lived in France for a year and spent a lot of time there for 3 years. Believe me, the stores have creepy diet aids just like American stores do.

They do eat their veggies, though - often lovingly cooked in cream, butter, cheese, etc. I think that's a pretty good example.

[Nancy LC]

But how can you live in Paris and not visit the bakeries for croissants and baggettes? *drool*

[Dodger]

They do eat their veggies, though - often lovingly cooked in cream, butter, cheese, etc. That has me drooling! There is no better way to serve veggies.

[LilithD]

Hello everyone - I've been a bit quiet for three months - have been travelling in France! Here are my observations:

The figures: Young women, up to mid-30is, very slim in most places, esp Paris. Never in a fit, muscular way though, just an extremely slim and quite small build. Many smoke, and I suspect that's partly for weight control. They are also quite short, at 1m72 I felt tall, so being larger overall (I'm not overweight) didn't make me feel too frumpy.

In middle age it goes two ways. In the regions, I'd say most middle-aged French people were pretty stout - not obese but certainly not slim. In Paris and the other cities there is a group of women who obviously work really hard at staying slim, and they often look rather like overcooked chickens, with a stringy unhealthy look to limbs and faces, wrinkled, overtanned skin and a rather hard look despite the meticulous makeup and clothes. My partner thought they looked quite unattractive (especially since many of them smoked and, really truly, carry stupid little pooing dogs around!!). I estimate that their weight control is mainly via starvation and smoking, not good diet and exercise.

There were very few gyms and very few women looked like they attended gyms. However, one does walk a lot in the cities, so that does help.

And the food? Totally overrated!! Vegetables?? A complete myth, except in Provence. While one could order a side salad, these were generally little more than iceberg lettuce and tomato. Main dishes were the hugest disappointment, meat sometimes grisly and overcooked, not the beautiful quality we get here in New Zealand, and worst of all: almost everywhere a meat main dish was accompanied only by pasta, rice or potatoes (often french fries) and NO vegetables or just a few overcooked green beans. Only in Provence did vegetables seriously feature in the average main dish, such as ratatouille (and pasta) accompanying meat.

We saw many stout French people eating out, and they generally ate the meat and fries, then dessert. Entres were generally a meat-based terrine (often delicious) with a bit of green garnish if lucky.

On the up-side, some sauces were delicious and some stews excellent, and all restaurants were very accommodating when I managed to convey my desire for the pasta, rice or potatoes to be replaced by vegetables (though one had to specify that this meant no potatoes, which they seem to think really rate highly as a vegetable). However, I would then usually get my meat with a large heap of overcooked green beans, which was often the only green vegetable apart from iceberg lettuce a restaurant seemed to have.

So don't believe the French svelte myth for a moment: they're not, and with that food they can't expect to be. If the young women are slim it is certainly not by tucking in to the kind of food one would get in the average restaurant!

LilithD

[LilithD]

I've mentioned young and middle aged people. What struck me about the elderly is that so many of them seemed to be limping around the villages with severe disabilities and osteoporosis, men and women. I can honestly say that I don't see so many unwell-looking elderly people here in New Zealand, and the amount of osteoporosis in men was particularly noticeable.

I haven't looked up the stats, perhaps the rate is no higher than elsewhere, but they certainly did not look thriving.

[ysabella]

LilithD, the dog-poo situation in Paris is just disgusting, isn't it? That problem happens a lot in urban Europe but I've never seen a place worse than Paris. Ugh.

I lived on the Cote d'Azur, so there's a more Mediterranean diet influence where I was. Possibly more vegetables available locally, I don't know. My little town had a fabulous produce store that always had great stuff.

Still, the French are massive on the carbs. Bread with everything. My boss said it's a French joke to say, "I'm on a diet - I'm not having any bread with my pasta."

The funny thing is, they complain so much about American fast food, yet they LOVE it. There was a McDonald's in the Carrefour (massive hypermarket) in Antibes, and it was always packed to the rafters.

For exercise, my colleagues did a few things - a couple of them went swimming, which is common in the places I lived in Europe. Any reasonble-sized town has an indoor pool somewhere that you can sign up for and use. And some of the guys played basketball. One of our assistants did lunchtime yoga. But yeah, nobody was a gym-goer, really.

[watcher16]

The funny thing is, they complain so much about American fast food, yet they LOVE it. There was a McDonald's in the Carrefour (massive hypermarket) in Antibes, and it was always packed to the rafters.

That is here in the Netherlands the same.

I have had great trouble to stop eating McDonald's, althoug I ate only a couple of times a month only one item. I think they add addictive stuff to the food, I can't explain otherwise why I would almost against my will wanted to go, pick something I knew I would feel bad about afterwards, eat it getting a quickly disappearing feeling of satisfaction, feel empty afterwards.

If that is not addiction!

If you know what they put in sigarettes to addict people (other than the 'natural' substances) it would not surprise me McDonald's does the same.

[Zuleikaa]

Everything is loaded with MSG, taste enhancers, and preservatives. MSG has proven addictive, I'm sure that the other taste enhancers are as well.

I remember a cartoon a while ago were McD execs sitting around the table with sales graphs showing exponentially increasing sales, discussing which addictive additives to add now.

I've always felt McD and other fast food were unnaturally addictive. Most of it isn't even good food.

[MsTwacky]

Well if we aren't the pot calling the kettle black.

That article is funny. Although I'm not saying that they may not be on their way to obesity, their mere 11% is nothing compared to our what is it?? 65-75%!!

hahahah...too funny.

[Lisa N]

11% is nothing compared to our what is it?? 65-75%!!

11% are considered obese (this doesn't mention the percentage that are considered merely overweight) as compared to roughly 20% in the US (with an additional 40% being considered overweight).
Yes, that's higher than it is here, but if current trends hold, it won't be too long before that gap closes.

[deirdra]

LilithD, the dog-poo situation in Paris is just disgusting, isn't it? That problem happens a lot in urban Europe but I've never seen a place worse than Paris. Ugh.

In Paris they have people in green uniforms in little green golfcarts whose job it is to pick up the poop (I guess it is beneath Parisians to pick it up themselves). The carts come by periodically, but if you aren't right behind one, watch your step! I also noticed that they have garbage cans outside the metro, but Parisians drop their stubs on the ground for the people in blue uniforms to pick up. I was visiting a university in Paris when the dept. head asked me why I said hello to a person in a blue uniform (I always say hello to the people who come into my office to empty my garbage can here) - apparently you aren't supposed to speak to people in lower classes, which is why they all wear uniforms. I wonder if blue people rank higher than green people?