FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS IN FRANCE MUST BE LOCATED MORE THAN 200 METERS AWAY FROM SCHOOLS TO FIGHT CHILDHOOD OBESITY, JUST LIKE ADULT X RATED SHOPS. THE PROVOCATIVE PROPOSAL BY FRENCH PARLIAMENTARY PHILIPPE FOLLIOT

Burgers and fries just like adult movies; soft drinks just like sexy lingerie. In France, fast food restaurants may be forced to be located no less than 200 meters from schools, just like adult X-rated shops already are. This is deputy Philippe Folliot’s provocative proposal, right when the Paris Parliament is debating a law to modernize agriculture and for years has been battling with childhood obesity. The deputy, wrote the French newspaper Le Figaro today, bases his proposal on an American study in which the number of obese children increased by 5% in schools that had a fast food restaurant nearby.
In France, there is already a law prohibiting bars opening near schools, but some bars are “saved”: the ones that were already in business before the school opened. Therefore, the idea is to apply the existing regulations for adult X-rated shops where the ban is total, also to fast food restaurants. France, where fast food restaurants account for only 2-3% of food consumption of the entire population, has been fighting child obesity for years. Since 2005, for example, vending machines for sodas and snacks in schools have been banned. The ban on fast food divides nutritionists. Some think that this measure could take on a symbolic value, but others believe that its effects will be limited. According to the nutritionist Jean-Michel Cohen, even the downstairs bakery sells sandwiches full of equally harmful mayonnaise as well as unlimited amounts of Coca Cola”.