After a while in France Karen Le Billon picked up on an interesting trend: French people don’t snack. Highlights of her article include:

• Studies suggest that North American children have three meals a day and snack thrice a day.
• French children on the other hand have four square meals a day and don’t snack.
• French ads for snacks on television carry a warning similar to those on cigarette packs, informing people that snacking in between meals can be dangerous for one’s health.
• French strollers don’t have cup-holders. Nor do cars for that matter.
• While France is renowned for its café culture, most of the people having meals at the cafes are tourist. French people will either be seen walking around or sitting down for a cup of espresso.
• In the rare occasions that French people do snack they eat things such as fruit and yogurt. They are looked down upon when they do this.

To read more about what the French words for snacking reveal about France’s snacking culture, some of the clear advantages this has for parents, how this relates to Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the controversy about snacking in France’s school system, click here.

Source: Babble

Via: Marginal Revolution