Cheese, pastries, foie gras — France’s culinary delights are full of dietary sins. Now child obesity is rising and the myth that French people can eat anything and stay thin is fading. So the Government is fighting back. Read more at The Age.

Some of have claimed that red wine is key to the “French Paradox,” so it is interesting that they are seeing problems in people not likely to be drinking red wine (children). The “French Paradox” though often talks about heart health instead of obesity, so it would be interesting if red wine helps control obesity as well. Others have stated that obesity is controlled in French women by eating small portions slowly and savoring their food, which again might not be something children would do.

Since the early 1990s, doctors have been urging us to switch to the Mediterranean diet, claiming it will bring us a longer and healthier life. Respected researchers have proved how this diet can stave off arthritis, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Amazingly, people living in the Mediterranean area are increasingly shunning their traditional diet according to a report released today by the United Nations. See the full news story at ABC News.

One of the reasons people on low-carbohydrate diets may lose weight is that they reduce their intake of fructose, a type of sugar that can be made into body fat quickly, according to a researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center. See the full news release from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

The study found that one type of sugar, fructose, gets converted to fat more quickly than the other types of sugars. High-fructose corn syrup is a common sweetner in many products. Paying attention to the types of sugars in food products while on a diet and avoiding those with fructose may be another way to help improve weight loss. The study found that even four hours after a high fructose drink was consumed, the body was more likely to store fat instead of burn it.

Scientists have long been puzzled by how the Masai can avoid cardiovascular disease despite having a diet rich in animal fats. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet believe that their secret is in their regular walking. See full story at Science Daily.

The Atkins diet may have proved itself after all: A low-carb diet and a Mediterranean-style regimen helped people lose more weight than a traditional low-fat diet in one of the longest and largest studies to compare the dueling weight-loss techniques. A bigger surprise: The low-carb diet improved cholesterol more than the other two. See the full AP news story

Interestingly, the low-carb diet worked best for men while the Mediterranean-style diet worked best for women in terms of weight-loss. It was not clear what the reasons are for this, but some experts hypothesized (guessed) that men need a more clear-cut regimen while women are more sophisticated at dieting and following more complex plans.

See the original paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Keeping a food diary can double a person’s weight loss according to a study from Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research. The findings, from one of the largest and longest running weight loss maintenance trials ever conducted, will be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Read the full story at Science Daily.