why french women don't get fat

MisterTEZ

Banning trans fats – whose nutritional value is sometimes compared to putting "melted tupperware on toast" – would save thousands of lives, researchers say today.

The UK should follow the example of New York, California, Switzerland, Denmark and Austria and implement a ban on the hydrogenated vegetable oils whose main selling point is that they are cheap, experts from Harvard Medical School and Harvard Public School of Health, Boston, US, say.

Trans fats – also known as trans-fatty acids – are found in cakes, pastries, pies, biscuits, snacks and fast foods. They are formed when liquid vegetable oil is turned into solid fat in a high temperature process called hydrogenation, and, as well as being cheap, they extend the shelf life of products that contain them.

Even a 1 per cent fall in use of the fats, as a proportion of total daily calories, would prevent an estimated 11,000 heart attacks and save 7,000 lives a year in England alone. Consumption of trans fats in developed nations ranges from 2-4 per cent of total calorie intake, they say.

In New York, voluntary efforts to reduce their use failed, but when they were banned in 2007 the proportion of New York restaurants using trans fats fell from 50 per cent to less than 2 per cent. (Some trans fats occur naturally so they cannot be totally eliminated.) Fears that trans fats would be replaced with saturated animal fat, which is also bad for health, have proved unfounded.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, Dariush Mozaffarian, assistant professor of medicine, and Meir Stampfer, professor of epidemiology at Harvard, say removing industrial trans fats is "one of the most straightforward public health strategies for rapid improvements in health".

A ban would save lives, be easy to implement yet have no impact on the price, sales, taste or availability of the affected foods, they say.

Several British supermarket chains, including Marks and Spencer and Waitrose, have phased out trans fats, as have some food manufacturers. The New England Journal of Medicine published a scientific review of trans fats in 2007 which said that "from a nutritional standpoint, the consumption of trans-fatty acids results in considerable potential harm but no apparent benefit".

The Food Standards Agency said consumption of trans fats in the UK was down to 1 per cent of total energy intake on average, half the maximum safe level recommended by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.

The Agency reviewed the safety of trans fats in 2007, including the legal bans introduced in Denmark and New York, and concluded that saturated fat found in meat, butter and milk posed a bigger health problem because of the larger quantities consumed. Efforts should be focused on reducing consumption of saturated fats, it said.

The Food and Drink Federation said the BMJ editorial did not contain any "population intake levels" and "could give rise to unnecessary health concerns". Barbara Gallani, the federation's director of food safety and science, said: "Artificial trans fats have been virtually eliminated from processed foods in the UK.

"Intakes are at even lower levels than shown by previous surveys – reportedly 0.8 per cent – well below the recommended maximum of of 2 per cent of food energy. The UK Government has recently concluded that trans fats at these levels do not pose health risks to UK consumers, an opinion with which we concur."

Victoria Taylor of the British Heart Foundation said the reduction in trans fats was good progress. "But we still need to do more to make sure that the industrially produced trans fats don't creep back into our nation's diets."

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/ban-trans-fats-and-thousands-of-lives-will-be-saved-uk-told-1946458.html

AthenaErr

Load o'hooey.

France has smaller portions - and nicer tasting food. So you eat less in a sitting and tend to have your taste centre satisfied.

Plus there is immense social pressure to be thin. its just expected. So the kind of pigging out you see women do in anglo countries is just seen as yeeeurgh! One would not walk down the street scoffing a choccy bar - again handy for keeping weight reasonable.

For all that there are of course overweight french women.

Think of that the next time you have a huge latte with full cream milk and you add a muffin to it just because the barista suggested it.

toutepechtite

I live in France and they do get fat. But not on average, not fat like Americans can get fat. It's very rare to see someone morbidly obese in France. They are getting fatter though. Then there is the other end of the spectrum and I suspect there are quite a few eating disorders around here. A lot of Parisian women get buy on a yoghurt and cigarette or coffee (or both) for lunch and they are not American size yoghurts!

One thing I would say though is that the French in general eat a much more varied diet than most Americans (again, this is in general as obviously there are French who live on potatoes and meat and Americans who eat very healthily). Eating a varied diet is very important here and in terms of meats and veg, we tend to eat a lot more different kinds than you would see elsewhere. If you have chicken for lunch, you won't have it again for dinner or even the next day very often. And most French will sit down to a hot meal at lunchtime and dinner. And they sit down. They wouldn't think of eating at their desk! Children have between 90 minutes and 2 hours off for lunch every day and a lot still go home for a hot lunch.

So overall, I think there is a much healthier attitude towards food and eating.

Aleara2012

Interestingly enough I know PLENTY of French women who are indeed rather fat.

HonkyTonks

Why people don't get fat - they burn more calories than they eat. If you've ever seen a slim person pack away the fatty food and wonder why - it's because they are either eating less at other times of the day (eg, they may not eat all day and have one large meal at night) and/or they are active / have a high lean body mass and thus a faster metabolism.

Saying that.. principles such as "eat slowly" "stop eating when full" and "enjoy your food" are good ones that I like to adhere to anyway.

toutepechtite

Just wanted to add, the French still walk a lot more than Americans do. The culture is definitely set up for it and a lot of things are within walking distance and a lot of people DO indeed walk instead of taking their cars.

Aleara2012

An interesting article here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15901351
The actual survey data is here - http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-24112011-BP/EN/3-24112011-BP-EN.PDF

The UK has more obese women than any other country in Europe, according to European Union figures.

Data agency Eurostat, which looked at 19 countries, found nearly a quarter of UK women - 23.9% - were recorded as being obese in the year 2008 to 2009.

Just over 22% of UK men were classed as obese, coming second only to Malta.

A person is defined as obese if their body mass index (BMI), the result of a calculation involving weight and height, is above a certain level.

The BMI correlates fairly well with body fat.

Statisticians found the share of overweight and obese people increases with age in all of the 19 member states that data was available for.

The data come from the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) and was published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Its figures for the UK were based on data from England, although surveys suggest the percentage of obese adults in Wales and Northern Ireland is similar and Scotland's latest health report put the figure at 28%.

After the UK, the countries with the highest levels of female obesity were Malta, with 21.1%, and Latvia, where 20.9% fulfilled that criteria.

Meanwhile, after Malta and the UK, the countries with the highest instances of male obesity were Hungary - where 21.4% fall into that category - and the Czech Republic, where 18.4% are classed as such.

Obesity levels were also found to be low in Italy, Bulgaria and France.

In Italy, 9.3% of women were found to be obese and 11.3% men.

Meanwhile, in Bulgaria levels of obesity for women and men were found to be 11.3% and 11.6%, with levels of France identified as being 12.7% and 11.7% respectively.

The figures suggested that the proportion of women who are obese or overweight falls as the educational level rises.

Last month, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley launched a bid to reduce obesity levels in England by 2020.

The minister said people need to be honest with themselves about how much they eat and drink.

He said that, overall, Britons should be eating five billion fewer calories a day than at present.



So I guess the real question should be - Why Romanian Women do not get Fat

katysmelly

Ennui, bitterness, Gauloises cigarettes, and multiple lovers..

You forgot to mention "Waving the white flag."

(I'm kidding!)

mandylooo

It is a fact that there are fewer obese people in France than in the UK and US, but it doesn't have the lowest rates of obesity. In developed countries, obesity is strongly correlated with levels of inequality - the bigger the income gap between the rich and poor, the fatter people tend to be.

Julietecosse

I live in France, and last week when shopping in supermarket, I said to my husband that I had never seen so many not fat but obese women in the shop, so I am afraid that there are lots and lots of french who eat too much, just like the rest of us. In fact my daughter, who married a frenchman was beautifully slim until she came to live here.

Aperture_Science

Whilst France does have less overweight and obese females (by %) than either the US or UK they are not the best example in Europe, let alone the World.

According to the WHO Global database on BMI (and yes I know BMI is a crude indicator of health and body fat but it's the best I've found), and using the latest value for each nation:

Estonia, Iceland, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, and Switzerland all have a lower % of Overweight adult females.

These plus Ireland have a lower % of obese adult females.

You can play about with the data here: http://apps.who.int/bmi/

birdieman75

It’s all about culture...

The UK is also the single parent teen capital of Europe, children having children and not been educated themselves before having children leading to poor diet choices generation after generation = Obese children and adults.

No one remember the case of the parents passing chips and fast food through the school gates when the school stopped serving unhealthy foods?

ickybella

I didn't read all the replies to this, just wanted to chime in. My mother in law is French and when the French side of my husband's family comes down, there is so much food. They really do eat a lot. At Christmas, we were at the table for four freaking hours at dinner. The kids, at least, aren't afraid of food and I like the way they do things. They all come home for a proper lunch, everyone sits down at the table and they eat for an hour or two. Same with dinner. Everyone has a great time, talking, asking each other about their days. It's lovely.

That being said, they are all at a healthy weight (except my mother in law, who has lived in the UK for a very long time) but they are not all healthy. Several of my husband's cousins have blood pressure/cholesterol problems, one of his uncles had a heart attack a couple of months ago, etc...

I have to say, though. I freaking love the way they eat. I love the family aspect of things, the togetherness of it all. Not that I'm planning to, but if I ever raise a family, I would love to sit down to meals that way. They are so affectionate with each other. Even the boys kiss each other on the cheeks to say hello.

snowmanluv

Had a friend who went to Europe (France) for a 1 month vacation. She was a "hippy butt" girl when she went and came back trim up to as lean as her body type would allow. We were in shock. Who goes on vacation then loses weight? She said she ate bread (fresh), cheese and drinks. She WALKED everywhere she went and all day long. They took a train then the walked. They eat what they want but lose it due to exercise.

vodkaswigger

My Mum lives in France so i am a regular visitor there, the author obviously hasnt seen some of the women ive seen.

bookyeti

Perhaps too, in general, the average European exercises more? Just throwing this out there. They do it, not for the sake of going out and exercising - but for many, practical reasons or necessity.

For example, when I lived in The Netherlands for 3 years, obesity was highly irregular. People there do eat a lot of fried foods and foods that we would consider 'unhealthy', but they walk or bike *EVERYWHERE*... not for sport, but for a main means of transportation. In a lot of city centers, cars are prohibited and so many have no choice but to bike or walk to work, school, get groceries, shop, etc.

They are always on the go, regardless of their age (it was really nice to see so many older ones biking, too!)

toutepechtite

Perhaps too, in general, the average European exercises more? Just throwing this out there. They do it, not for the sake of going out and exercising - but for many, practical reasons or necessity.

For example, when I lived in The Netherlands for 3 years, obesity was highly irregular. People there do eat a lot of fried foods and foods that we would consider 'unhealthy', but they walk or bike *EVERYWHERE*... not for sport, but for a main means of transportation. In a lot of city centers, cars are prohibited and so many have no choice but to bike or walk to work, school, get groceries, shop, etc.

They are always on the go, regardless of their age (it was really nice to see so many older ones biking, too!)

This is absolutely true, especially in northern Europe. Bikes are everywhere!

Another thing to keep in mind with the French is that they have very set mealtimes. There is breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. And no eating in between. Even the children have very set schedules for this. When my kids get out of school, they know it's snack time (btw, they get out of school a lot later in France than in most places in the US... usually between 4-5 pm). And often times, snack is actually a sit-down meal. Then dinner around 7ish and that's it. Of course, schedules change by family etc, but on average, this is a pretty typical schedule.

I think Americans snack a lot. In a lot of places in France, big cities being the exception, restaurants aren't even open most of the day. They are open for mealtimes and then close. And a lot of shops close between 12-2 as well, for mealtime!

shamr0ck

Ever been to France? They walk *everywhere*, they are always active. They eat fresh food, which may mean shopping daily (they have awesome outdoor markets!), and they take their time over their meals, so that they have a chance to feel full, rather than stuffing everything on the table in within 5 minutes.

AthenaErr

It is a fact that there are fewer obese people in France than in the UK and US, but it doesn't have the lowest rates of obesity. In developed countries, obesity is strongly correlated with levels of inequality - the bigger the income gap between the rich and poor, the fatter people tend to be.

erm if the figures are percentages then they are rates of obesity.

agentscully514

heh, this thread is so old! I was just joking. Mostly. I do suspect there are a lot of eating disorders there.

That being said I think the attitudes toward snacking are totally different. People are not afraid to feel hungry for a couple of hours before dinner.

mandylooo

It is a fact that there are fewer obese people in France than in the UK and US, but it doesn't have the lowest rates of obesity. In developed countries, obesity is strongly correlated with levels of inequality - the bigger the income gap between the rich and poor, the fatter people tend to be.

erm if the figures are percentages then they are rates of obesity.

Thanks for the correction. There are fewer obese people in France AND they have a lower rate of obesity than the UK and US, howver this is not the lowest obesity rate in developed countries.

mfpcopine

It is a fact that there are fewer obese people in France than in the UK and US, but it doesn't have the lowest rates of obesity. In developed countries, obesity is strongly correlated with levels of inequality - the bigger the income gap between the rich and poor, the fatter people tend to be.

erm if the figures are percentages then they are rates of obesity.

I didn't say that there are as many obese French people. For one thing, there are fewer people in France than the U.S. I said the obesity rate was climbing. This article, from 2010, says that France's rate is that of the US in the 1970s and is increasing, so much that anti-obesity programs have been introduced to schools.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/france/100827/obesity-france-paris-food

If you really believed that the French had some kind of eternal secret to thinness, there would be no need for this. Their culture is changing, in part because of the U.S. There's more snacking, and even now the French are not big on adults exercising publicly. Some years ago, I went running in a resort town and some French people were loudly making fun of me.

They don't eat, they smoke, some have eating disorders.