This trend imported from America would really gall Charles de Gaulle; the French are getting fatter by the year. In fact according to NPR, the rate of obesity in France has doubled in recent years, to 12 percent — a figure approaching U.S. fat stats.

For a country whose populace generally considers itself a cut above the rest of the world, this must be the one thing that is tough for them to swallow.

Of course the Americans are to blame for all of France’s ills including the now-porky Parisians. The French are spending more time watching television (no doubt bad American TV shows) and drinking sodas (Cokes and Pepsi’s). They are also eating more fast food (McDonald’s and Burger King). They’ll no doubt even blame us for French Fries.

Not surprisingly, they’re still in denial. NPR reports that it’s rare for a French high-end clothing manufacturer to make dresses larger than size 14. However 40% of Frances ever-fattening female population is now larger than that. This is what France wants us to imagine when we picture a French woman (click on picture for more of Melissa Theuriau):

However, this is a you’ll likely see as you stroll the Champs-Elysees:

And expect to see more French “cankles” (defined as the “fat that fills in and eliminates the curve between the calf and the ankle.”)

Bonus: Here’s a tip for you would-be bloggers. Do not type “fat women” into Google unless you preselected safe search. You’ve been warned.

french fat people cankles

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 27th, 2007 at 8:09 pm by Insider and is filed under France, We Taunt You. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.