Give bonus exam points for slimness?

[Gail]

If this was to happen somehow I think society would begin to equate slimness with intelligence...

Quote:

PARIS | Wed Jan 4, 2012 4:57pm EST

(Reuters) - Pierre Dukan, the nutritionist behind the popular but controversial Dukan diet, has suggested that France tackle child obesity by giving extra exam marks for slimness.

Dukan, who has sold 8 million copies of his diet book worldwide, made the proposal in a 250-page book called 'An Open Letter to the Future President', which he sent out on Tuesday to 16 candidates for France's presidential election.

The plan calls for high school students to be allowed to take a so-called "ideal weight" option in their final year exams, the "baccalaureat," under which they would earn extra points if they kept a body mass index (BMI) of between 18 and 25.

Those already overweight at the start of the two-year course would score double points if they managed to slim down over a period of two years.

"It's a fantastic motivator," Dukan told Reuters.

"The baccalaureat is really important in France. Kids want to get it, their parents want them to even more, so why not get them to work together on nutrition?"

Weight gain is becoming an increasing problem in France and experts say sedentary lifestyles and poor nutrition are to blame.

World Health Organisation (WHO) figures show 50.7 percent of the population were overweight in 2010, including 18.2 percent classed as obese.

"There's a real problem. Since the 1960s the number of overweight people in France has risen from 500,000 to 22 million and it's going up every year," Dukan said.

"When you reach those levels, it's no longer a health problem, it becomes a political problem, and the leaders of the nation need to worry about it."

As well as the suggestion for students, Dukan's book, which will hit French bookshops on Thursday, contains a further 119 suggestions for the future president on ways to fight obesity.

One idea is the creation of a French fast-food restaurant serving more nutritional versions of the ubiquitous burgers and fries.

Dukan has earned an international reputation as diet guru to the stars, although his methods have drawn criticism from some health experts and weightwatchers who say his high-protein meal plan causes fatigue, bad breath and dizziness. But he is also a committed campaigner for the promotion of healthier lifestyles.

He recently met executives from McDonald's France with a suggestion for a healthy "McDukan" burger, made with low-fat meat and with oatmeal bread instead of the usual white bun. Unfortunately, the giant food chain turned him down.

"They were interested, but they said the public wasn't quite ready for it yet," he said.

The BMI, obtained by dividing a person's weight by the square of their height, is used as an indicator of the proportion of body fat. The WHO defines a BMI of 18.5 to 25 as normal, 25 to 30 as overweight, and over 30 as obese.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)

[Gail]

Instead of handing out rewards for slimming down, why not simply make a nutrition course a requirement to earn the bac?

[Bravus]

Stop subsidising the US corn industry and putting HFCS in everything might be a start...

[joeb]

All I have to say on this subject is that "slimming down" isn't necessarily a healthy goal, nor is being "slim" a necessarily healthy body image.

One of my granddaughters thinks she needs to be able to see her rib cage to be "slim", and is willing to indulge in unhealthy behavior, such as sticking her finger down her throat after eating, as a way of reaching her goal.

The day I see normal bodies being pictured as the ideal, rather than some half-starved bulemic model, or some photo-shopped female image that doesn't come close to reality, I'll change my tune.

[Gail]

All I have to say on this subject is that "slimming down" isn't necessarily a healthy goal, nor is being "slim" a necessarily healthy body image.

One of my granddaughters thinks she needs to be able to see her rib cage to be "slim", and is willing to indulge in unhealthy behavior, such as sticking her finger down her throat after eating, as a way of reaching her goal.

The day I see normal bodies being pictured as the ideal, rather than some half-starved bulemic model, or some photo-shopped female image that doesn't come close to reality, I'll change my tune.

I wonder which is the more widespread problem, obesity or the also very real one you have described.

I still think that completing a nutrition course should suffice. It is information that will form the basis for subsequent decision-making on the part of the student.

One hitch:

I've had it told to me by a French person that mealtime in France is "sacré," that is, it's sacred. Many places close right down for the midday meal and they tend to take their time enjoying it. For the French, mealtime is a social and leisurely event.

I suppose that it is good that people eat slowly and with a happy heart. You would need to replace the love of "good eating" with informed, healthy eating. The transformation of the cultural aspect may take some time.

There is a well-known French saying that goes, "J'ai bien mangé, j'ai bien bu." (I've eaten well, I've drunk well). I think it's DNAed into them.

[joeb]

I wonder which is the more widespread problem, obesity or the also very real one you have described.

I still think that completing a nutrition course should suffice. It is information that will form the basis for subsequent decision-making on the part of the student.

One hitch:

I've had it told to me by a French person that mealtime in France is "sacré," that is, it's sacred. Many places close right down for the midday meal and they tend to take their time enjoying it. For the French, mealtime is a social and leisurely event.

I suppose that it is good that people eat slowly and with a happy heart. You would need to replace the love of "good eating" with informed, healthy eating. The transformation of the cultural aspect may take some time.

There is a well-known French saying that goes, "J'ai bien mangé, j'ai bien bu." (I've eaten well, I've drunk well). I think it's DNAed into them.

Obesity is probably a larger problem, but then again that's because society is presented constantly with unrealistic imagery. More people are attracted to the unrealistic "eating what tastes good makes you happy" message sent sublimally in much of the advertising on TV than the opposite message.

Both messages are destructive.

[joeb]

Eating/over-eating is a moral choice, and it's been proven again and again that education is no predictor of moral behavior.

It always makes me laugh when the educational system says it can teach ethics/morality. I took an ethics class and all it did was tell me that there are all kinds of ethical models and they are all of equal value. IOW's, there really is no absolutes for right and wrong, good and evil. As long as that is how morality/ethics is taught nothing good can come of it.

[Gail]

Eating/over-eating is a moral choice, and it's been proven again and again that education is no predictor of moral behavior.

It always makes me laugh when the educational system says it can teach ethics/morality. I took an ethics class and all it did was tell me that there are all kinds of ethical models and they are all of equal value. IOW's, there really is no absolutes for right and wrong, good and evil. As long as that is how morality/ethics is taught nothing good can come of it.

I hear ya! Education is only the knowledge not the wisdom.