I am not claiming that there is not one person in France who is overweight or overeats. With an obesity rate in 2012 at 15% and overweight 32%, the French are still considered the thinnest people in Europe and doing better than most developed countries.
Eating less is not all the French do well......
2) Enjoy and savour food - eat slowly and sit
Everyone is busy and it seems very few family meals are enjoyed at the traditional dining table, sharing news of the day and a delicious home-cooked meal. The French have refined the art of sitting down (often at a café facing the footpath) to enjoy a coffee or something to eat. French children are more likely to sit down to a hot lunch rather than a sandwich, with a small dessert to follow, which may in fact be fruit of some description. When we eat on the run we usually eat quickly and don't have time to think about the flavours and textures, or how much we are consuming. Eating out of a bag or a packet is common, while eating from a plate has greater benefits. If you put your food on a plate you can see exactly how much there is, and using utensils also helps to slow down the rate of consumption. You may yourself have been shocked by tipping a take-away carton of noodles or curry onto a plate and realising the sheer volume that was about to go into your stomach. Eating from a plate will help to reduce your portions. If we are eating while doing something else, like working on the computer or sitting on the couch in front of the tv, then we are also eating mindlessly and this increases the speed we eat and the likelihood of over-eating. Sitting down to eat a meal and focusing solely on the food and our dinner companions is worth the time and effort.
3) Meticulous preparation
French people take the time to eat, and perhaps this is because they are admiring what they are about to enjoy. Just think of a French pattiserie and the sparkling clear glass cabinets full of intricately designed and crafted pastries and cakes. The structure and artistic appeal is of equal importance to flavour. Petit fours is a French term meaning 'small oven', as these miniature sweet morsels were traditionally made in a small oven next to the main larger oven. Most enjoyment of food is in the first couple of bites, and in France they recognize this. What is the point of having a huge piece of chocolate cake, all the one flavor, when you can have a range of different flavours and food experiences. Nothing is just slapped onto the plate in France, pride is taken in food preparation and presentation. Not everyone's lifestyle can accomodate hours in the kitchen, but allocating a small amount of time to improving your food skills and making food look nice can make eating so much more fun, and help your health and weight at the same time.
4) Mealtimes are for eating
It seems that the French eat their food at mealtimes and don't rely on too much snacking for their daily nutrients. I don't really know why there is less snacking, but eating a 'proper' meal at lunch may mean that hunger in the afternoon is less of an issue? Three square meals per day won't suit everybody, but it may be a useful strategy for reducing overall calorie intake, as the types of foods we eat between meals are often higher-calorie and lower-nutrient density than the type of foods we eat for main meals.
5) Good habits start early
Most of the food habits described above begin during childhood in France. The child obesity rate in France has historically been one of the lowest in the world, while in other developed countries children are becoming more and more overweight. If you want to learn more, check out this post by Karen Billon 'French Kids Don't Get Fat' which is a terrific insight into the eating patterns of French children.
Although we can't all move to France to live, we can make the effort to understand some of their everyday habits and apply them to our own lifestyles and eating patterns. With Christmas and associated food-related celebrations ahead, there is no better time to start thinking about your own choices. Portions really are the key, whilst enjoying a range of nutritious foods eaten for pleasure. Bon apetit!!
