法國女人腰愈來愈粗 罩杯愈來愈大

法國女人腰愈來愈粗 罩杯愈來愈大

【聯合報／編譯王麗娟／報導】 2006.10.02 02:45 am

法國女性向以窈窕身影聞名於世，但根據從一九九七年起三年一次的追蹤調查，法國女性已柳腰不再。 路透報導，法國人的肥胖程度以及體重增加的速度，雖然仍比不上美國，但調查結果顯示，法國人的體型一樣有愈來愈「大隻」的傾向，在法國女性身上尤其明顯。 調查結果顯示，十五歲以上的法國人，近四成二有體重困擾，約三成的人過重，另有百分之十二點四的人屬於肥胖。 法國人不貪吃，也不偏好垃圾食物，在一般人印象中法國人與肥胖沾不到邊。但根據ObEpi-Roche的調查，法國人的肥胖問題還在持續惡化中。 三年前，法國成人中肥胖者占百分之十一點三，而在一九九七年時還只有百分之八點二。至於體重過重者，則是三年前與九年前維持同一比例。 調查還顯示，肥胖問題與收入有關，收入愈高，變臃腫的人愈少。月收入少於九百歐元（台幣約三萬八千元）的人肥胖率最高，占全部肥胖者的近一成九。 之前，全球首席市場資訊公司ＴＮＳ也證明法國女性日漸豐腴。該公司一項調查顯示，今年初，購買特大號服裝女性的比率為二成二，二○○四年僅一成八。從二○○○年到二○○五年，女性購買Ｃ罩杯以上胸罩的比率也上升七個百分點，達到五成六。 【2006/10/02 聯合報】

Mais non! French women do get fat

Survey finds nearly half of country's population is overweight

Reuters

Updated: 3:09 p.m. ET Sept. 19, 2006

PARIS - The French are becoming bigger and fatter and French women in particular are increasingly giving up on their renowned “taille fine” (thin waist), a survey that tracks weight patterns in France shows.

Nearly 42 percent of the French population older than 15 years has a weight problem, an ObEpi-Roche survey showed on Tuesday. Almost a third is overweight and 12.4 percent is obese.

Despite a notion that the French shun overeating and junk food, obesity is still on the rise, according to the study, which has been conducted every three years since 1997.

The closely watched survey is sponsored by drugs group Roche, which makes weight loss products, but it also mirrors growing concern in France on obesity and reflects other surveys which have shown trends such as rising average clothes sizes.

While the problem in France is not as serious as in countries such as the United States and the pace of growth has slowed compared with previous surveys, the data showed a steady rise in severe obesity that requires medical care.

“There is a small hope that a favorable trend is starting,” Marie Aline Charles, head of research at the National Institute of health and medical research (INSERM) said.

“But you cannot state that we might begin to reverse this trend in France until other studies confirm our results.”

Three years ago 11.3 percent of the adult population in France was obese against 8.2 percent in 1997, while the share of the population which is overweight has remained unchanged.

People are called overweight when their body mass index (BMI) -- weight divided by height -- is 25 or more and are obese when it exceeds 30. Severe obesity begins at 35, according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

“More than anything else, obesity is a health problem,” Anne-Sophie Joly, head of French obesity lobby group CNAO told Reuters. “If you don’t inform people they won’t know.”

Obesity linked to income

Survey sponsors Roche produces a weight loss drug known as Xenical. Others include Sanofi-Aventis’s Acomplia and Abott Laboratories’s Meridia.

Campaigns were launched in France last year warning of the health dangers linked to obesity and by the end of this year the CNAO hopes to highlight a growing number of obese children.

Obesity is linked to income, the study showed. The highest percentage of obese people, nearly 19 percent, earn less than $1,139 (900 euros) a month. For the first time since 1997, however, obesity has diminished among those earning over 5,300 euros.

A separate TNS Worldpanel survey last week showed French households are spending 3 euros more on average — or 132 euros in total — on health products such as yogurts and cereals that promise weight loss and lower cholesterol, in 2006 than in 2005.

TNS in an earlier survey said that extra-large clothes sizes accounted for 22 percent of French women’s clothing sales at the beginning of this year compared with 18 percent in 2004. The percentage of women buying bigger C-cup bras rose 7 percentage points to 56 percent between 2000 and 2005, it showed.

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14909422/