Don’t want a fat child? Just say Non! says an author whose daughter goes to school in France, where snacking’s banned, and fat-shaming is de rigueur

Take a look at your child’s school photo and you’ll almost certainly spot a few pupils who are overweight or even obese.

You might assume this is an inevitable side-effect of modern life, given all we hear about unhealthy snacks and sugary drinks aimed at children. But in my 13-year-old daughter’s class, there’s not a single fat kid. And there never has been, since she started nursery, age three.

Why? Because she goes to school in France, where I and my French wife have lived for years. And in France, they don’t see childhood obesity as a mysterious, insurmountable problem — they see it as simply unacceptable.

Yes, my daughter has gone to good schools in well-off Montpellier and nice parts of Paris, but her mother is a teacher in Seine-Saint-Denis, the most impoverished part of the capital, and none of the children there are fat either. That’s because the French — parents, teachers and the government — have worked together to stop the problem.

Vending machines are banned, as are packed lunches — except for children with allergies. Instead, everyone eats in the cafeteria, where meals are usually decided by a staff nutritionist to ensure pupils get a balanced diet.

My daughter’s school posts weekly menus online. One day she could choose between pâté or green salad with gruyère to start, fish or veal with vegetables as a main course, and cheese or natural yoghurt for dessert. To drink, there is nothing but water.

Mums and dads can see the menu too, of course, and many plan suppers to complement lunch.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-6312865/Dont-want-fat-child-Just-say-Non-says-author-daughter-goes-school-France.html

It makes total sense.
Fat kids turn into fat adults and fat adults are unhealthy.

Many youngsters are now obese, look at a class photo now and one when you were a kid, it's quite obvious that kids of a similar age have piled on weight in the last years...and the sad thing is obesity is one disease that IS preventable.

Syl wrote:It makes total sense.
Fat kids turn into fat adults and fat adults are unhealthy.

Many youngsters are now obese, look at a class photo now and one when you were a kid, it's quite obvious that kids of a similar age have piled on weight in the last years...and the sad thing is obesity is one disease that IS preventable.

Completely agree