Trust les Froggies to come up with a sensible and appealing way to tackle obesity. Teach people to cook, the head of nutrition at the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, Dr Arnaud Basdevant, says.  "Enjoying food, variety in food, the culture of food are the best defences against obesity." His is a wonderful visually suggestive name for the project: it means, more or less, Below In Front.

Patients at the hospital are being taught to make classic French dishes, but with water instead of oil and butter. Cream and sugar are allowed, though in small quantities. Reminds me of Nouvelle Cuisine without the pretentiousness. (Remember those famishing years when sauces were made from endless vegetable purees?) At least this time around students won't have to pay through the nose to eat it.

Dr Basdevant doesn't promise you will be turned into a Vogue-appeal wraith. Thank Heavens. Just that if combined with regular exercise, this approach to food will help obese and overweight people get down to a healthier weight without being put on what feels like a depriving diet. They're encouraged to sit down to a three-course meal. Snacking and TV dinners, however, are strictly forbidden.

One in six people in France are now obese. It's less than in other developed nations. But the French are developing an enthusiasm for fast food. Here's a surprise for you: despite their vociferous objections by the French to the chain, the second most profitable market for McDonald's is France.