why french women don't get fat

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/

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.

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

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!

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.

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.