French president Sarkozy, like President Obama, enjoys proclaiming new initiatives that seek to promote change.

The next French initiative will probably be a national campaign for nutrition and against obesity.

Is an anti-obesity campaign needed in France? Aren’t French people thin enough as things stand today? Aren’t there more pressing concerns, such as persistent unemployment or flagging purchasing power?

While nutrition and obesity may join a list of national causes, the issues are taken very seriously in France.

President Sarkozy created a high-profile commission last year to study the issues and make recommendations. The commission’s report has not yet been made public, but a summary of its advice. Among the points that caught my eye:

  • Encourage more physical activity (exercise) at and out of school. This is important because the French school day tends to be long and sedentary, not conducive to daily exercise.
  • Promote nursing (by mothers of infants). In 2005, 55% of new mothers nursed their baby; French health authorities hope to increase this percentage, to 70%, given that 75% of expecting women say that they want to nurse.
  • Install water fountains in public spaces: schools, sports facilities, government buildings, trains stations, airports, work sites.
  • Promote Type 80 flour (household flour is Type 45, more heavily refined) and less than 18 grams of sale per kilogram of flour in breadmaking.
  • Offer food stamps specifically for fresh fruits and vegetables (€10/month).

The City of Paris (which has administrative responsibility over elementary schools in the capital) has launched its own initiative in favor of nutrition and against childhood obesity. It has a collection of action plans to prevent and treat obesity, none of which seem especialy innovative. What struck me most was this statistic, from a study the city carried out: among third graders, 15.6% –about one in six– are overweight.

This might be the most remarkable aspect of the French campaign against obesity: the problem seems small, by US or UK standards, yet the response in uncontroversial and coordinated.