French adults getting fatter

"French women don't get fat" was the title of book, but a survey finds more than one in 10 of the country's adults are officially overweight.

Author Mireille Guiliano explained in her international best-seller earlier this year that French women stayed slim because of lots of fresh vegetables, small portions and long walks, reported the Sunday Telegraph.

However, France's National Institute for Health and Medical Research, says the number of clinically obese adults went from eight to 11 percent in five years -- or 1.2 million more overweight people. For those under the age of 15, the figure doubled from 2 percent to 4 percent in the same period.

The study showed the risk of obesity is concentrated among poorer families, and only 7 percent of executives' children are overweight compared with 25 percent of youngsters whose parents are unemployed.

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