Thursday, May 29, 2008

ARE FRENCH PEOPLE HEALTHIER?

    I don't know if I have any illuminating health information about the French; or at least about the Parisians.   I just returned from a few days in Paris and I have to say, I'm mystified.   There is no question that Parisian look better than most Americans; certainly, obesity is quite rare, and people of all ages charge up flights of stairs in the metro at breathtaking pace (literally).   But I have no idea why this is.   In my brief few days of observation, it appeared to me that most young Paris residents smoke, they seem to drink somewhat heavily, and their food is incredibly rich.   I wondered if perhaps they ate less carbohydrates, but the number of baguettes and pastries they seem to consume was astounding.   In short, it seemed like the residents of Paris should be much less healthy than they appear.
    When I have recovered from my jet lag, I will look into whether, in fact, French people are healthier than Americans.   What I need are some hard numbers.   When I have those, we'll explore what they might be doing differently over there.