French Kids Eat Everything (40 page)

My intellectual debts are many, but I'll single out a few. I've relied heavily on the insights of academic researchers, including Claude Fischler, Natalie Rigal, Paul Rozin, and other researchers at the Institut du Goût in Paris, and the Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation in Dijon. In North America, authors Marion Nestle, Michael Pollan, and Adam Gopnik continue to inspire. Many of the nursery rhymes and
contines
—wonderful windows into French culture—were drawn from Marie-Claire Burley and Lya Tourn's charming illustrated book
Enfantines: Jouer, parler avec le bébé
(L'école des loisirs, 1988).

Last but not least: our daughters (whose names have been changed in this story) were (mostly) enthusiastic eaters, adorable table companions, and insightful commentators on the perils and pitfalls of cross-cultural parenting. And my husband, Philippe—who first toured me throughout his beloved France in his battered Renault 5 car so many years ago—was there from beginning to end. I need say no more, for he already knows.

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4
Le plaisir de la:
Brillat-Savarin's
Physiologie de goût
is considered to be a foundational text of modern gastronomy.

7
France's rate of child obesity:
Yannis Manios and Vassiliki Costarelli, “Childhood Obesity in the WHO European Region,” in
Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and Adolescents
, edited by Wolfgang Ahrens, Luis A. Moreno, and Iris Pigeot, Springer Series on Epidemiology and Public Health, Part 1 (New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 2011), 44–68; Wolfgang Ahrens, Luis A. Moreno, and Iris Pigeot, “Childhood Obesity: Prevalence Worldwide—Synthesis, Part I, in
Epidemiology of Obesity
, 219–235; Sandrine Lioret, Mathilde Touvier, Carine Dubuisson, et al., “Trends in Child Overweight Rates and Energy Intake in France from 1999 to 2007: Relationships with Socioeconomic Status,”
Obesity
17, no. 5 (2009): 1092–1100; Benoit Salanave, Sandrine Peneau, Marie-Françoise Rolland-Cachera, et al., “Stabilization of Overweight Prevalence in French Children between 2000 and 2007,”
International Journal of Pediatric Obesity
4, no. 2 (2009): 66–72; Sandrine Lioret, Bernard Maire, Jean-Luc Volatier, et al., “Child Overweight in France and Its Relationship with Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior and Socioeconomic Status,”
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
61, no. 4 (2007): 509–516.

7
And while rates of overweight:
Cynthia Ogden and Margaret Carroll,
Prevalence of Obesity among Children and Adolescents: United States, Trends 1963–1965 through 2007–2008
(Atlanta: National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control, 2011); Benoit Salanave, Sandrine Péneau, Marie Françoise Rolland-Cachera, et al.,
Prévalences du surpoids et de l'obésité et déterminants de la sédentarité, chez les enfants de 7 à 9 ans en France en 2007
(Saint-Maurice: Institut de Veille Sanitaire, Université de Paris 13; 2011).

7
Vitamin pills seemed like a cop-out:
David R. Jacobs and Lyn M. Steffen, “Nutrients, Foods, and Dietary Patterns as Exposures in Research: A Framework for Food Synergy,” supplement,
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
78, no. 3 (2003): 5085–5135; David R. Jacobs, Myron Gross, and Linda Tapsell, “Food Synergy: An Operational Concept for Understanding Nutrition,”
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
89, no. 5 (2009): 1543–1548; Mark Messina, Johanna W. Lampe, Diane F. Birt, et al., “Reductionism and the Narrowing Nutrition Perspective: Time for Reevaluation and Emphasis on Food Synergy,”
Journal of the American Dietetic Association
101, no. 12 (2001): 1416–1419.

11
and they have carefully studied strategies:
Natalie Rigal, “La consommation répétée permet-elle de dépasser la neophobie alimentaire?”
European Review of Applied Psychology
55, no. 1 (2005): 43–50. See also Bérengère Rubio, Natalie Rigal, Nathalie Boireau-Ducept, et al., “Measuring Willingness to Try New Foods: A Self-Report Questionnaire for French-Speaking Children,”
Appetite
50, no. 2–3 (2008): 408–414.

25
This, in their view:
J. L. Carper, Jennifer O. Fisher, and Lean Lipps Birch, “Young Girls' Emerging Dietary Restraint and Disinhibition Are Related to Parental Control in Child Feeding,”
Appetite
35, no. 2 (2000): 121–129; Sandrine Monnery-Paris, Natalie Rigal, Claire Chabanet, et al., “Parental Practices Perceived by Children Using a French Version of the Kid's Child Feeding Questionnaire”
Appetite
57, no. 1 (2011): 161–166.

26
French kids, like their parents:
Adam Drewnowski, Susan Ahlstrom Henderson, Amybeth Shore, et al., “Diet Quality and Dietary Diversity in France: Implications for the French Paradox,”
Journal of the American Dietetic Association
96, no. 7 (1996): 663–669; Paul Rozin, Claude Fischler, Sumio Imada, et al., “Attitudes to Food and the Role of Food in Life in the U.S.A., Japan, Flemish Belgium and France: Possible Implications for the Diet–Health Debate,”
Appetite
33, no. 2 (1999): 163–180; Paul Rozin, Kimberly Kabnick, Erin Pete, et al., “The Ecology of Eating: Smaller Portion Sizes in France than in the United States Help Explain the French Paradox,”
Psychological Science
14 (2003): 450–454; Dara R. Musher-Eizenman, Blandine de Lauzon-Guillain, Shayla Holub, et al., “Child and Parent Characteristics Related to Parental Feeding Practices: A Cross-Cultural Examination in the US and France,”
Appetite
52 (2009): 89–95.

36
They were also inexpensive:
For more information on French school lunches, see the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale (www.education.gouv.fr) and the Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire (www.anses.fr).

41
Since vending machines are banned:
Loi n° 2004–806 du 9 août 2004, art. 30.

42
At school, under the influence:
Leann Lipps Birch, “Effects of Peer Models' Food Choices and Eating Behaviors on Preschoolers' Food Preferences,”
Child Development
51, no. 2 (1980): 489–496; Elsa Adessi, Amy Galloway, Elisabette Visalberghi, et al., “Specific Social Influences on the Acceptance of Novel Foods in 2–5-Year-Old Children,”
Appetite
45, no. 3 (2005): 264–271.

42 “
School is a privileged place”:
“L'école est un lieu privilégié d'éducation au goût, à la nutrition et à la culture alimentaire.” www.education.gouv.fr/cidl38/la-restauration-au-lycee.html. Accessed November 1, 2011.

43
Entire books on this topic:
Natalie Rigal, a developmental child psychologist, has written
La naissance du goût: comment donner aux enfants le plaisir de manger
(Paris: Agnès Viénot, 2000). See also
Le goût chez les enfants
(Paris: Flammarion, 2000) by French oenologist and “taste philosopher” Jacques Puisais, who created the Institut du Goût in 1976, and initially developed some of the “taste-training” ideas that are now used in French classrooms.

44
Edging closer:
INPES,
La santé vient en mangeant et en bougeant: Le guide nutrition des enfants et ados pour tous les parents
(Paris: Institut National de Prévention et d'Éducation pour la Santé, 2004).

45
Schools, she proudly noted:
See the research by the Institut du Goût (Paris) and the Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation (Dijon).

47
And low-income parents: Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in France
(Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2004). Marie-Thérèse Letablier, “Why France Has High Fertility: The Impact of Policies Supporting Parents,”
Japanese Journal of Security Policy
7, no. 2 (2008): 41–56.

47
The French approach levels the playing field:
Luc Bronner, “La place croissante de l'Islam en banlieu,”
Le Monde
, October 4, 2011.

48
This explanation made Madame's:
Nadine Neulat, “L'éducation nutritionnelle à l'école,”
Enfances & Psy
27 (2005): 96–100.

52
But 60 percent of Americans:
Claude Fischler and Estelle Masson, eds.,
Manger: Français, Européens et Américains face à l'alimentation
(Paris: Odile Jacob, 2008).

56
Children's food is not fuel:
Simone Gerber “L'empreinte de Françoise Dolto sur mon métier de pédiatre,”
Le Coq-héron
168 (2002): 105–110.

74
Good taste (and thus good food):
Claude Fischler,
L'homnivore
(Paris: Odile Jacob, 1990).

75
In France, Hugo explained:
Thierry Mathé, Gabriel Tavoularis, and Thomas Pilorin, “La gastronomie s'inscrit dans la continuité du modèle alimentaire français,”
Cahiers de Recherche
267 (2009).

80
Searching for an explanation:
Trémolières' last and probably best-known work is the book
Partager le pain
(To Break Bread Together), published in 1975.

92
Fischler's work on adults:
Fischler and Masson, eds.,
Manger
.

93
In contrast, only 40 percent:
Data from Child Trends Data Bank, available at www.childtrends.org.

107
A decade ago:
Elena Byrne and Susan Nitzke, “Preschool Children's Acceptance of a Novel Vegetable Following Exposure to Messages in a Storybook,”
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
34, no. 3 (2002): 211–214.

109
And this starts early:
Carolyn J. Gerrish and Julie A. Mennella, “Flavor Variety Enhances Food Acceptance in Formula-Fed Infants,”
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
73, no. 6 (2001): 1080–1085; Camille Schwartz, Claire Chabanet, Vincent Boggio, et al., “À quelles saveurs les nourrissons sont-ils exposés dans la première année de vie?”
Archives de Pédiatrie
17, no. 7 (2010): 1026–1034; Sophie Nicklaus, Vincent Boggio, Claire Chabanet, et al., “A Prospective Study of Food Variety-Seeking in Childhood, Adolescence and Early Adult Life,”
Appetite
44, no. 3 (2005): 288–297.

109 “
Opposition to food can't persist”:
Vanessa Saab and William Memlouk,
Mon bébé refuse de manger: L'aventure alimentaire du jeune enfant
(Saint-Julien-en-Genevois Cedex: Jouvence, 2008).

110
And tasting new foods:
Susan A. Sullivan and Leann L. Birch, “Infant Dietary Experience and Acceptance of Solid Foods,”
Pediatrics
93, no. 2 (1994): 271–277; Camille Schwartz, Claire Chabanet, Christine Lange, et al., “The Role of Taste in Food Acceptance at the Beginning of Complementary Feeding,”
Physiology and Behavior
104 no. 4 (2011): 646–652; Andrea Maier, Claire Chabanet, Benoit Schaal, et al., “Effects of Repeated Exposure on Acceptance of Initially Disliked Vegetables in 7-Month-Old Infants,”
Food Quality and Preference
18 (2007): 1023–1032.

110
That's not all:
Rigal,
La naissance du goût
.

117
The French recommendation:
The most recent report by the Institut de Veille Sanitaire (
Situation nutritionelle en France en 2006
, Paris: IVS) uses data gathered under France's national nutrition and health program (Programme National Nutrition Santé).

117
In contrast, only about 10 percent:
Barbara A. Lorson, Hugo R. Melgar-Quinonez, and Christopher A. Taylor, “Correlates of Fruit and Vegetable Intakes in US Children,”
Journal of the American Dietetic Association
109, no. 3 (2009): 474–478.

117
And the most common type:
Another interesting point is the difference between French and American food guidelines. The French have nine guidelines for exercise, limiting certain foods, and drinking water (called
MangerBouger
or EatMove); the guidelines specify variety as well as quantity of fruits and vegetables. In contrast, the American food guidelines (see myplate.gov, where a plate has replaced the well-known food pyramid) don't mention exercise, and don't specify how many types of fruits and vegetables to eat—they just specify a target proportion of total foods consumed.

118
If eating is something:
Daniel Cappon,
Eating, Loving, and Dying: A Psychology of Appetites
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1973).

118
As the American Academy of Pediatrics:
See the AAP's Healthy Children website: www.healthychildren.org/english/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/pages/Switching-To-Solid-Foods.aspx. Accessed November 1, 2011.

118
The book contains some views:
Laura A. Jana and Jennifer Shu,
Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood Armed with the Insight, Humor, and a Bottle of Ketchup
(Washington, D.C.: American Academy of Pediatrics, 2008).