Composing a balanced meal remains difficult for the French
Eating a balanced diet is what is advisable tostay healthy. The French know this very well, and try to apply it as best they can on a daily basis. But do we really know what a balanced meal is? Do we really know all the categories of foods, their calorific intake, and the recommended daily amounts?
The association MENU: Movement for Nutritional Balance(1), has addressed all these questions. They asked HARRIS Interactive to carry out a study for them onthe relationship of the French with calories and nutrition. The results were published this month (December 2014) on the Harris Interactive website(2).
Results and explanations of the study
Based on the results, there appear to be differences in response in this study depending on the profile of the respondents. The survey was conducted in 2 stages, from 24 to 26 June 2014, and from 4 to 6 November 2014, on 1000 and 1002 people respectively.
We can learn from this study that62% of French people know the caloric intake of the foodsand drinks they consume. It still appears that this knowledge is best acquired in women, people who have already followed a diet, as well as in privileged environments.
The nutritional balance, for 60% of the French population, boils down to meals composed of the different families of foods.
However, composing balanced meals seemsa difficult task for 46% of French people, or nearly half of the population, especially for people who are obese, do not play sports, or have little qualifications.
The identification of caloric foods is mainly based on french fries, butter, cold cuts. But it is sugar that dominates in the minds of the French as the most caloric food. However, many French peopleadmit to giving up a food because it is too caloric.
Moreover, more than 4 out of 10 French people admit to having already followed a diet. In this case, 65% preferred to eat less, 41% do more sports, and 25% prefer sweetened products.
Despite special attention to avoid weight gain, this for 69% of French people, as well as the regular practice of a sports activity (for 41% of them) calorie counting is effective for only 22% of respondents, relegating it to the background.
Finally, as the holiday season approaches, nearly 1 in 2 French people (48%) believe that they will lose weight during this period.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.