[Closed] Fat people in France...

Nah ... It's just that Onions aren't that fattening.

Edit... Or garlic come to think of it

They don't eat bread, fruit or any other carb based food

FACT

They were all on holiday in Skegness.

FACT.

Noticed the same in France on previous visits.

Was even more striking on a recent trip to Holland - I was actually surprised when I saw a larger person, which tuned my eyes in to the fact that there were, indeed, very few...

Where were you? Somewhere different in demographic to your commute route?

Probably a FACTOR, THOUGH THEY DO SEEM A BIT LESS TUBBY. Damn CL.

EDIT 23% UK obesity vs 9% France

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity

welcome back! how was your hols, and how did mrs yeti get on with her ride?

They don't eat bread, fruit or any other carb based food

err - I think bread, cheese, veg and red wine are far more significant diet components than meat...

Main difference I have noticed is the relative contempt for US style food outlets

They don't eat so much fast food in france? There they call McDonalds' "Le Mal Boeuf"

French food tastes rubbish, so no one wants to eat it.
That's why they're skinny.

Al - I was in the mountains in France. I live in Oxfordshire.

Does altitude make you skinny?

{Dirty - great on both accounts. She wants to go on another road tour already. I made it back from LG with just 7 stitches}

err - I think bread, cheese, veg and red wine are far more significant diet components than meat...

Wwwwhoooooooooooooooooooshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ............................

ohnohesback - Member

They don't eat so much fast food in france? There they call McDonalds' "Le Mal Boeuf"

^this^

Plus far less processed food in general, more real cooking.

Wwwwhoooooooooooooooooooshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ............................

nope

oh, and
😉

The French are generally thinner than us here in the UK. They eat more healthily and prepare more of their own food vs buying pre-prepared.

Less healthily, they are also [b]obsessed[/b] with weight (and cellulite), particularly women.

Interesting fact.
I do believe that the quarter pounder with cheese is called a Royale with Cheese and a Big Mac is called Le Big Mac.
Those crazy French.

Always been very impressed with the supermarche in France*.

Emphasis is on fresh meat, fresh seafood, fresh veg and the obvious link to home cooking

*3-4 aisles of wines helps...

Its because they just kill all the fatties. Then they turn them into animal feed which they give to horses. Which they then go on to kill and eat. Sustainability innit?

I think the American fast food thing is very true... couldn't get a KFC for love or money.

60 Gauloises a day tends to take the edge off one's appetite.

how did you get the stitches? good fun?

Running away & building roadblocks takes a lot of energy. 😉

Please avoid mentioning Montiac (from when I lived in France) - ooops!

French people survive on cigarettes and coffee, the women especially.

I think it's as rkk says above - they appreciate good food, hence don't eat a lot of junk, why would you when home cooked food is nicer, it also tends to be healthier.

You don't get ready meals in french supermarkets and the fresh veg/meat is so much better than in the UK.

I love France - some things they have got right - food/drink being 2 of them.

It's a known phenomenon - The French Paradox (sounds like a film) - they eat lots of cheese, bread, cook with cream and butter etc. Maybe they're more active, but I think we eat a lot more convenience foods in the UK, which contain lots of added sugar and fat*

I have no data or evidence to back any of this up, pure conjecture so essentially meaningless 🙂

Lived in Paris for two years. Convinced that buying fresh food every day as required was important. Never visited a supermarket the whole time I lived there - oh, apart from a very small codec once!

Frustrated by lack of vegetables though!

If the food in Tesco looked in any way comparible to an average French supermarket, I'd be the size of a house! Is it possible to physically overdose on crusty bread, cooked meats and Camembert?

Doctor the other day pointed out that there's nothing inherently wrong with eating bread, however, anything that lasts more than a day he doesn't count as "bread".

I'm trying to reduce the regularity of my HFCS/sucrose rants but after my niece was sat there drinking a can of pop with 78g of sugar in it (500ml)I started up again on Sunday.

it must also have somthing to do with the weather as well...they get decent weather i.e 4 proper seasons so they kids are out running about and the adults are out...cycling...walking...working in the garden etc

but yes the food is the main cause look at the italians...great weather but loads of high carb food = lots of fat folk

I just got back from the Alps too. I saw lots of fat people; mostly on Oranges and with odd French accents, "Bon Jor", "Mercey".

french supermarche's are ace.
i like the fact that they push the produce local to the region as offers.
i was drinking red wine that cost 1.40 euro a bottle the other week when i was in the Vosges.

They may be thin but geeez they're smelly.

Because they live in a civilised developed world country.We,on the other hand live in a post Thatcherite Third World shit hole.A shit hole dominated in its culture by all that is bad from the good old USA.Anybody remember high levels of obesity in the 60s and 70s.I don,t.

What ticks me off is that every single box of pre-cooked chicken in tesco has sugar added to it, even the 'healthy' stuff. Grrr.

young people in France do use fast food outlets as much as the Brits do but they tend to be located in urban populated areas i.e. the bits the tourists don't go to
A walk around Paris will confirm this but as with all things it's dependent on demographics - nice middle class families discourage their kids whereas in the large French cities there are lots of poor suburbs with the same problems we have here and fast food customers

could it be cause it's downright impossible to get brown bread?

I think it's 'cause they don't have family packs of crisps.

monkeycmonkeydo - Member
Because they live in a civilised developed world country.We,on the other hand live in a post [i]Thatcherite[/i] Third World shit hole

Ah, Ernie's Law (or was it Cecil's Law?) that didn't take too long!! This mystical woman got everywhere!

they give to horses. Which they then go on to kill and eat

[b]don simon[/b] - Member
Interesting fact.
I do believe that the quarter pounder with cheese is called a Royale with Cheese and a Big Mac is called Le Big Mac.
Those crazy French.

McDonalds is very popular in France - its their second largest market after the US.

However generally their diet is much better. I cant quantify it with any evidence but my experience is that in the UK people seem to eat alot more processed and junk food in the home (and as snacks between meals) than is the case in France.

Interesting fact.
I do believe that the quarter pounder with cheese is called a Royale with Cheese and a Big Mac is called Le Big Mac.

Do you know why?

It's because of the Metric system?...Apparently, they dont know what a quater pounder is.

You see more and more fat French people and the prediction is for over 20% obesity by 2020. It depends a lot on the area though, statistics show the alps and the cote d'azur having the lowest levels whilst the nord pas d'calais has almost 20% already. That said, most of the real fatties you see in France are northern European tourists.

If you want to have a pop at me teamhurtmore, then at least have the integrity to wait until I come onto the thread.

people in France do use fast food outlets as much as the Brits do but they tend to be located in urban populated areas i.e. the bits the tourists don't go to

The obvious link to home cooking could be a male chauvinist hangover..

Sorry Enrie, it was a joke! 😉 I will stick to Cecil in future. Probably, slightly more appropriate. Anyway thought you had emigrated as you seem to have been very quiet. Nice to know you are still there and others are keeping up the....now, stop that 😉

Back to OP - portion sizes? Compare a French restaurant with UK/US one. Drinking in moderation? Good wine to be savoured not glugged. That's what the Badoit/Perrier/Evian is for. What is the normal size glass for a beer (Formidables aside!)?

One good thing about the Bullingdon Bullies isthat the unemployed,sick and disabled will be starved into being thin.If they manage to survive at all.

it would be interesting to see ratios of fat men to fat women for various countries...

walk round any large town and McD, Quick Burger & Subway are everywhere
(Subway's success in France is amazing they're expanding at an incredible rate)
Of course you'll still have the McD flagship stores near the major tourist bits

You can't see liver disease walking around, mind.

Don't the french have a fattie's club? If you're over a certain weight you have to attend "fat club" where they take you on walks and stuff..

I remember belting down a trail in the French Alps and coming across loads of them, wider than the trail! 😯 The guy leading them (skinny) said there are a lot bigger ones further down the trail so be careful.

I think its a great idea if this is true!

"Malbouffe" isn't so much the Mc Donalds and similar, it's industrial food crammed with cheap sugars and fats. That's what I see when I visit the UK. Even things like green beans and carrots have added sugar in the UK.

A Big Mac contains French beef in French bread with French salad and unfortunately some fairly foul sauces. As a meal though there's not much wrong with it. As a meal, not a snack.

The coffee and cigarettes thing is true but only for 25% of the population, what percercenatage of Brits smoke?

As for sport I saw a table with Ireland at the top and France near the bottom. Like cycling though, I sustect the statistics are misleading. I pass lots of cyclists in my local town and so few when on holiday in Britain every one wanted me to wave back at them.

National sport of France.........?

This is a [b]cycling[/b] forum...........

French "appear" relatively slim as a nation......

So the answer is......get on your bikes and ride. Simples, we should all be happy!

If you want the starkest indication of the difference between French and English eating habits, try eating where lowly paid workmen go for lunch in France. It will probably put many restaurants in the UK to shame for quality of wholesome food at a reasonably price. The French think eating wholesome food is a basic human right.

The French think eating wholesome food is a basic human right.

Tucker - good point. We witnessed some French road workers taking their lunch break at a motorway services...

Picnic table was out with a fine selection of cured meats, bread and cheese on display. Not a fast food wrapper in sight.

McDonalds is very popular in France - its their second largest market after the US.

With who? The French, or tourists?

I know many French people that wouldn't consider going anywhere near a McDonalds, but then I know plenty of English people who feel the same.

I think I'm correct in saying the French as a rule are happier to spend a larger proportion of their income on food. So yes, they like good food, but they appreciate that good food costs money, and that's a price they are willing to pay.

TuckerUK - Member
If you want the starkest indication of the difference between French and English eating habits, try eating where lowly paid workmen go for lunch in France. It will probably put many restaurants in the UK to shame for quality of wholesome food at a reasonably price. The French think eating wholesome food is a basic human right.

Good points - and how many francais eat lunch at their desks? One of the joys of working in France was a proper lunch break, eating at a restaurant with a fresh menu du jour and watching my boss going for his daily rendez-vous with his mistress at 13:30!!

Even things like green beans and carrots have added sugar in the UK.

Do they hell. Maybe from a tin, but who the hell buys tinned veg?

As for smoking - 20% in the UK. Also, remember France drinks a lot, and has some of the highest rates of liver disease iirc. Also apparently 20% more French men die of cancer than British men - lots of mouth and throat cancer from all the booze and fags.

One of the joys of working in France was a proper lunch break, eating at a restaurant with a fresh menu du jour and watching my boss going for his daily rendez-vous with his mistress at 13:30!!

Isn't that what makes the country's economy less competitive on the world stage? Wasn't that a key campaign issue in the last election?

I thought the binge drinking culture in the UK was supposed to have a more dramatic impact on health?

Edit: According to some stats I just looked at the French are at position 14 in the world's best alchoholics table... just one position higher than the UK.

watching my boss going for his daily rendez-vous with his mistress at 13:30!!

Ah yes, the French ladies. Who generally (I've both found and reliably been told by the locals) like to be feminine and don't object to admiring glances by fat old bald gits like myself.

my ex girlfriend was French. She said when a McDonalds opened in the town where she grew up some locals burned it down. Apparently it never reopened.

Isn't that what makes the country's economy less competitive on the world stage?

Doesn't matter really, the Germans will soon be picking up the tab for the French and they're non-productive afternoon liaisons 😉

Mind you. They're amateurs in comparison to the Italians. I remember being over there and wondering when anybody actually [i]did[/i] anything, as we enjoyed yet another absolutely fantastic, 2 hour, 3 course lunch with plenty of wine to wash it down

Hello Molgrips, here to rubbbish everything I say as usual? You'll make a fool of yourself as usual too. I was talking about industrial foods and in this context British carrots and beans have added sugar, check the tin or jar. I buy vegetables in jars and so do most French people, there's nothing wrong with them; the nutritional content is better preserved than home cooking.

The cancer mortality rate of men in France is only 8% higher than in the UK.[url= http://eu-cancer.iarc.fr/2-cancer-fact-sheets.html,en ]Check for yourself[/url]

In a few weeks we make our (seemingly) annual pilgrimage "au sud".

Having become a biffer in the last couple of years, I'm actually embarrassed in advance of arriving on holiday.

I think I'm correct in saying the French as a rule are happier to spend a larger proportion of their income on food. So yes, they like good food, but they appreciate that good food costs money, and that's a price they are willing to pay.

This^ and

The French think eating wholesome food is a basic human right.

This^

Are reasons why I love France.

On the point about proportion of income spent on food, I think it's telling.

Britons are sold (and therefore choose to buy) food based on two leading criteria: (1) price and (2) convenience. Buying on quality alone seems to be a criteria of a sub-set of middle class Britain.

I'm in that niche, hence my food bill is huge and I can't afford an Audi or a plasma TV....

when a McDonalds opened in the town where she grew up some locals burned it down. Apparently it never reopened

Suddenly the French have gone up massively in my estimation ...

😀

I can only assume their home cooking is somewhat more healthy than the stuff their restaurants serve which seems to consist primarily of cream, cheese, salt and red wine. mmmmmmmm

I put on 3 kg over a long weekend not so long back...je ne regrette rien!

Hello Molgrips, here to rubbbish everything I say as usual?

No, not at all. But it's a bit sweeping to say that beans and carrots have sugar in, when most people buy them either fresh or frozen just as they come off the plant.

I'm surprised that French people buy tinned veg - disgusting slop imo. I don't know anyone that buys their veg that way, but I suppose people do because they are available. Beans in tins often - they used to have sugar and salt, but now most are sugar and salt free.

All I was doing was pointing out that just because people aren't fat doesn't mean they are healthy. France has health problems the same as anywhere else. It's a British trait to think that the UK is a hell-hole and everywhere else is better.

and I can't afford an Audi or a plasma TV....

Why you would want either of those is beyond me.....

when most people buy them either fresh or frozen just as they come off the plant.

+1

I got back from France a few weeks ago and noticed the same thing. One thing I did notice when visiting a Carrefour supermarket was that crap food (biscuits, crisps, chocolate bars, soft drinks etc.) were really expensive (€3+ for a four pack of Lion bars, Soft drinks costing more than beer etc.) but that's probably a good thing

The fresh fruit/veg was far superior than here too (and cheaper in many cases despite the exchange rate). I must admit I preferred it to shopping here (shame getting hold of proper milk is so difficult though).

I don't think it's confined to France. There's been a noticable absence of fatties in every country I've travelled to.

Being a porker is a very British thing.*

Now, aren't we all proud 🙂

*and American, of course.

You're still misquoting me, Molgrips. You have turned my word "jars" into "tins" and missed out the word "industrial" again.

If you check 2011 stats (Wiki is out of date) you'll find French people (both men and women) have a longer life expectancy than in the UK and suffer less from weight-related pathologies. In general people who aren't fat are healthier if all other lifestyle influences are stripped out.

Edukator - I believe that Molly is trolling.

Even his first 'male chauvanist' comment is dripping with teh ironing.

There's a soda tax here on sugary soft drinks to discourage their consumption (and raise money of course).

Molly pictured earlier

[img] [/img]

😀

You have turned my word "jars" into "tins" and missed out the word "industrial" again.

I do not buy veg in jars OR tins. I don't think you can even get jars of veg here.

I was contributing to the discussion btw, you only seem to want to prove me wrong for your own benefit.

All I am saying is that the French also have national health issues, they are just different. I'm not saying better or worse. I pointed it out because I thought the debate was focusing on weight, which is not the whole picture.

The chauvinism comment was intended to open up the debate a bit. Is it the case (I don't know) that women are more of a slave to the kitchen and family than they are in other countries? After all, a lot of people eat convenience food because they would rather spend their time doing other things.

Spending ages preparing food is great if it's something you really want to be doing - it's not good to feel pressured into doing it (ad yes I know nice food doesn't have to take ages blablabla)