On the French Front: Today’s French Kids are Getting Fat

Aug 21, 2009 by Anna Migeon

THE ONLY TIME FRENCH KIDS would eat outside of meals or official snack time, traditionally, would be when they were picking fruit or nuts found along their path or in the family orchard or vineyard, as my little darling is doing here while visiting her French grandparents this summer. –photo by Anna Migeon

I just got back from 17 days in France visiting my husband’s family. It had been three years since we’d been there.

And yes, we could see a difference, much as I hate to admit it. Fat French kids, once few and far between, are now plentiful. We’ve still got them beat, though: only about one in six French kids is overweight versus one in three in the US. We see more overweight adults, too, though it’s not yet at…

On the French Front: Crazy French Beliefs about American Eating Habits

Aug 19, 2009 by Anna Migeon

I just got back from 17 days in France visiting my husband’s family there.

One evening at my parents-in-laws’ house, I met a woman whose first question to me was:  “But do you have regular meals at your house in America?”

I knew what she was getting at, but I felt defensive.  I knew she had a point, but I was irritated. Also, as if I would admit it at this point if the answer was no.

I felt like I was being asked if I had quit beating up my husband.  I felt like she was holding up a piece of our collective national…

Good American Additions to the French version of the After-School Snack

Jan 8, 2009 by Anna Migeon

Smoothies (frozen fruit pieces mixed with some juice or milk in the blender)

Bananas or apples with peanut butter

Celery “boats” spread with cream cheese or peanut butter

Popcorn

Crackers and pesto (a sauce made with basil, nuts and cheese)

Salsa and chips

Whole wheat pita bread toasted

Cereal and milk, (less sweet, more whole grain and organic)

Nuts

Tartines of peanut butter (open-face sandwiches)

Left-over corn bread with butter, honey

Related Post: French tea time: glorified after school snack: https://www.thehappydinnertable.com/2009/01/09/french-tea-time-glorified-after-school-snack-crosses-the-atlantic/

Food Porn and How to Rescue Your Child from It Now

Jan 5, 2009 by Anna Migeon

If you want to start the New Year out right with one thing that can have a major impact on your child’s overall well-being, turn off the TV.  TV’s effect on eating habits is reason enough, though only the beginning.

“Food on television makes one think about eating and gets one’s gastric juices flowing, triggering the release of insulin, lowering one’s blood sugar, and stimulating food cravings,” writes Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat. “It’s gastronomic pornography.”

Americans, unlike the French, have a conditioned impulse to snack while watching TV anyway, and food ads whip that urge to a frenzy.  For the French, food is always the main event, never background accompaniment to another…