Pierre Dukan from France is a high protein diet promoter and has a new book out this month.

France has a real problem with rising obesity levels. In the past 4 decades the number of obese has risen from 500,000 to 22 million. This appears to be Dukan’s concern. 

Dukan suggest that pupils should be set an ideal weight in the final year of their baccalaureate exams. If they manage to keep their BMI between 18 and 25 they will earn extra points. His suggestions have not gone down well.

Dukan adds that his plans would not discriminate against the already overweight as they would earn even more points if they manage to to lose weight over the 2 year period. 

Mr Dukan has been accused of seeking publicity for his book and in turn putting forward dangerous proposals to the future president. 

One problem is that adolescents have an awful lot to deal with without this added pressure. Could this generate a whole new generation of weight obsessed people, perhaps leading to anorexia and or bulimia? 

Interestingly it is reported that of 5000 people who have followed Dukan’s diet, 80% had regained the weight within 4 years. This is disputed by Mr Dukan who puts the figure closer to 40%. We know that 95% of dieters in general cannot sustain their weight loss which begs the question, do diets work? Clearly not! 

Another question to ask would be does bribing people to lose weight work? 

A scheme set up last year as a pilot in the NHS found that giving a financial incentive to people to lose weight worked very well. On average patients lost 4kg in a year and were paid £180. 

However, the study wasn’t without it’s problems. Only 38% of participants completed their plans which is worse that people who opt to attend a slimming club. There has not been any long term follow up as to whether the participants kept their weight off! 

James