Reversing Obesity - The French Approach

Obesity is a condition that is rapidly increasing and governments have begun to realize that measures have to be taken to control it to prevent disturbing health consequences.

The arrival of computers, mechanization of work , leisure and  transportation, easy access to films and  video games have caused activity levels to collapse and ‘passive’ weight to increase.

Unhealthy eating habits with high fat levels,and  low fruit and vegetable consumption increase obesity which in turn increases the occurrence of Non Communicable Diseases and reduces the quality of life. 

France , a country famous for its cooking traditions,is tackling the problem of overweight and obesity in children through a unique multi-sectoral approach involving  health, education, social service, transport and urban planning sectors in a national strategy that  largely works in  conjunction with local communities. 

The National Nutrition and Health programme which was launched in 2001 is working to change what children eat by improving food in schools, educating children about food and all about a balanced diet, hiring qualified nutritionists to  give advice about canteen menus and food preparation so that meals provided by nursery and primary schools are healthy. 

The health sector co -ordinates prevention and management of childhood obesity .School doctors are trained to screen for children who are over weight and refer them to their physicians. Overweight children along with their familiesare advised to follow a schedule that involves dietitians, psychologists and physical activity professionals .

After children leave school, it is even more difficult to get them to eat healthy food. Peer groups  influence what they eat.Children are surrounded by advertisements through social media encouraging them to eat foods high in fat, sugar and salt.With more mothers working and less time for home cooking, the requirement for processed foods has increased. All these result in a change in what they eat. 

Since a large majority of children watch TV on an average for more than 2 hours a day,France introduced a six point charter with broadcasters and advertisers in 2009 to support the propagation of TV and radio programs specifically aimed at young audiences on nutrition and physical activity that emphasize good eating habits and life style. 

A tax on soft drinks which has reduced the sales, a National Obesity Prevention program that improves screening for obesity and reaching out to the entire population are other French initiatives.

To monitor trends ,for comparative studies or to evaluate effectiveness of interventions, the WHO Regional Office for Europe launched its WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative in 2007. It issued growth standards for school age children and adolescents in 2007. These standards define children’s weight in terms of a distribution of values from 0-100 percentiles. The definition of overweight is the 85th percentile and above while for obesity it is the 97th percentile and above.Data is being collected using this.

(Source:  Europe’s Visible Epidemic. A Report by Gary Humphreys and Catherine Fiankan-Bokonya: Bulletin of the World Health Organization Volume 91, Issue 8, August 2013, 545- 620)