French children don't snack

I grew up in Germany too and my experience very much reflects yours.

I still go back regularly as my parents still live there and I always notice that people are generally slimmer and fitter than in the UK. You see far more people cycling to shops, walking, hiking.

Regarding the cycling: it is god awful in this country! there is no funding, no awareness, it's very dangerous (I live in a 110k city and have seen regular cycle accidents in large roundabouts) and absolutely off-putting.

And I also noticed that sports seem to be more difficult to pursue here. At university, it costs up to a 100£ to play football for a year (including the insurance cover, charges for using equipment, match fees, coach salary). Women's football is lagging a good decade behind. Our local uni team has to drive up for 4 hours to meet another team.

Don't get me wrong- I love it here, but I do wonder whether the lack of options regarding fitness and sport is related to UK's higher obesity rates. The EU-US differences very much suggest so.

I didn't grow up snacking at all as a kid. I don't even think we had snack type foods in the house. (1980's southeastern US). If we were thirsty, it was milk or water. There were no sodas in the house. That being said, I do have a piece of fruit in the afternoons now to hold me over until dinner. We eat dinner, as a family, at 5:30 and then the kitchen is closed.

I see a lot of parents in my area using food to pacify their kids. Kid having a tantrum? Hand them a baggie of teddy grahams, cheerios and such. That, in my opinion, is the real problem. I know the parents are overwhelmed and need a break (no judgment here), but food being used to comfort moods sets the kid up for problems later in life. Again, just my opinion.

Very interesting. Giving up snacks is one of the key points
in the weight loss advice I give. But I had no idea that eating
snacks is a cultural thing, and that in some cultures -- at least
in France -- snacking is very minimal. Does anyone here know
of other cultures in which snacking is not customary?

I am not positive, but I believe this also holds true for some other european mediterenean countries like spain and italy. Also, I believe some asian countries, like japan. Please jump in though to verify or correct me though.

Japanese children snack all the time. Conbinis are on every corner, sometimes 2 on a corner. Conbinis are convenience stores full of snacks. There's also vending machines about every 100 feet or so. The Meiji candy company is one of the biggest in the world. They also have some of the most unique flavors of doritos and potato chips you could imagine. Half of the grocery stores are snack aisles. The problem is not snacking. Americans and Canadians are fatter than the French, who are in turn are far fatter than the Japanese. The problem is overconsumption, not timing of consumption or what is consumed.

^This. I've seen many Japanese adults and children snacking a lot more than I've seen most Americans growing up. As Ginger said, it's about overconsumption of food (snacks and meals)...not timing or what is consumed.

My kids are grazers, constantly wanting to snack. I limit their snacking only because it's not good for their teeth. But they still end up eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day. Both are slim, each near the very low end of the BMI chart. I don't think snacking need be a shameful thing like suggested in that article. All depends what is being fed to them.

Thanks for posting

Nothing like generalisations........

Lol. Yup, you brits never generalize when it comes to those frenchies.

And of course, that wasn't a generalisation! But I get where you were going with that. And entirely agree with your original post. I've lived in France, and stay with French friends on occasion. The way of eating is ingrained. And anyone who 'feels sorry' for the French not snacking doesn't need to. They have a very healthy attitude to food. They partake in 'proper' meals (IMHO), which include everything in moderation, and generally in the right proportions. A visit to a patisserie is regarded as a treat- that is to say, it's not something eaten on the go, or in the car- they sit down and enjoy it as an occasion- the same way they do do a tea or coffee. Food is something they take very seriously (along with a lot of things, and there's my little generalisation about the French! ). We can learn a lot from their culture, as we can from many cultures.

Generalize away. :happy:

As far as the patisserie and the healthy attitude....you mean they eat sweets other than on their cheat day?! Gasps.

Sadly, most of them don't need cheat days! (sigh). I think if I lived there now, every day would be a cheat day!

I can't understand why habitual snackers would feel sorry for those whose cultures don't include snacking - they're used to their way of doing things, it's normal for them.

I also grew up, in the UK, in the 1970s and 80s, of mixed German/English parentage, and we also didn't have snacks, at least not til we were teenagers and in such a mega-growth-spurt that we needed extra calories just after school. Stomach sizes adjust, and above all, you don't develop a habit of eating all day long, and feeling that this is necessary. Guess what - it's not!

We had a good breakfast of cereal and toast, lunch usually sandwich-based, the post-school intake often of something like cheese on toast, and our supper was really the biggest meal of the day, something hot, plenty of veg, some meat or fish, and pasta, rice or potato. We also didn't have puddings much - and I don't make them except for special occasions either: again, not being used to them, I don't find them necessary or miss them. In fact, when I started calorie counting, I began to resent them, realising just how much of a day's "allowance" they'd swallow up - I'd far rather have a bigger volume of veg than a small amount of something cloyingly sweet. Since my son developed type I diabetes eight years ago, the whole family has also found that it's adjusted to a less sweet tooth, as I stopped buying the really sweet things so much - far from being a treat, they're now sickly to us. I just wish the food manufacturers would stop stuffing so many artificial sweeteners to such extreme amounts into so many foods - it is perpetuating the sweet tooth of the general population, and making it more extreme. Which in turn leads to more problems for people trying to control their weight

Nothing like generalisations........

Lol. Yup, you brits never generalize when it comes to those frenchies.

And of course, that wasn't a generalisation! But I get where you were going with that. And entirely agree with your original post. I've lived in France, and stay with French friends on occasion. The way of eating is ingrained. And anyone who 'feels sorry' for the French not snacking doesn't need to. They have a very healthy attitude to food. They partake in 'proper' meals (IMHO), which include everything in moderation, and generally in the right proportions. A visit to a patisserie is regarded as a treat- that is to say, it's not something eaten on the go, or in the car- they sit down and enjoy it as an occasion- the same way they do do a tea or coffee. Food is something they take very seriously (along with a lot of things, and there's my little generalisation about the French! ). We can learn a lot from their culture, as we can from many cultures.

Generalize away. :happy:

As far as the patisserie and the healthy attitude....you mean they eat sweets other than on their cheat day?! Gasps.

Sadly, most of them don't need cheat days! (sigh). I think if I lived there now, every day would be a cheat day!

Nah, you'd be fine cause you'd walk it off. But never in gym shoes, and never with a sweat. Afterall, the french don't exercise either. He he, I'm having fun with the generalizations now. :happy:

Oh honey- they exercise in a different way! :laugh: (and that's not a generalisation, it's true!!)