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| France Bans Free Soda Refills in Attack on Obesity | France Bans Free Soda Refills in Attack on Obesity |
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| In 2004, France banned vending machines from schools. In 2011, it limited servings of french fries to once a week in school cafeterias. A year later, it imposed a “soda tax.” On Friday, the government said no restaurants can offer free refills of sodas and other sugary drinks. | In 2004, France banned vending machines from schools. In 2011, it limited servings of french fries to once a week in school cafeterias. A year later, it imposed a “soda tax.” On Friday, the government said no restaurants can offer free refills of sodas and other sugary drinks. |
| The new regulation is the latest attempt to tackle what the government called a relentless rise in the national obesity rate. Fast-food restaurants, usually foreign chains, are expected to be targeted under the new law. | The new regulation is the latest attempt to tackle what the government called a relentless rise in the national obesity rate. Fast-food restaurants, usually foreign chains, are expected to be targeted under the new law. |
| The law, which takes effect immediately, said it aimed to “limit, especially among the young,” the risks of obesity and diabetes. | The law, which takes effect immediately, said it aimed to “limit, especially among the young,” the risks of obesity and diabetes. |
| The move by France is in line with recommendations by the World Health Organization, which has urged countries to impose a tax on sugary drinks to battle an increase in obesity, presenting data in 2016 on the beneficial health effects of such a tax. | |
| The French are, on average, less overweight than other Europeans and Americans. The share of obese adults (age 18 and older) in France was 15.3 percent in 2014, just below the European Union average, 15.9 percent, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Malta has the highest share of adult obesity of European nations, 26 percent. | |
| In the United States, it is 36.5 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. | In the United States, it is 36.5 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. |
| While the overall adult obesity rate in France appears to be relatively low, 57 percent of men and 41 percent of women 30 to 60 years old were overweight or obese, according to a report released in October by Bulletin Épidémiologique Hebdomadaire, the French medical journal. | While the overall adult obesity rate in France appears to be relatively low, 57 percent of men and 41 percent of women 30 to 60 years old were overweight or obese, according to a report released in October by Bulletin Épidémiologique Hebdomadaire, the French medical journal. |
| France has been at the forefront of tackling the issue, along with countries like Japan, where a national law requires companies and local governments to measure the waistlines of people between the ages of 40 and 74, and to encourage them to exercise. | France has been at the forefront of tackling the issue, along with countries like Japan, where a national law requires companies and local governments to measure the waistlines of people between the ages of 40 and 74, and to encourage them to exercise. |
| Mexico added a 10 percent surcharge on sugary drinks in 2014 to reduce alarming levels of diabetes there. After one year, sales of such beverages fell as much as 12 percent, while bottled water purchases rose 4 percent, a study found. | |
| Similar efforts are underway in the United States. Philadelphia became the first major city this year to introduce a tax on soda and other sugary drinks, provoking public outrage. | Similar efforts are underway in the United States. Philadelphia became the first major city this year to introduce a tax on soda and other sugary drinks, provoking public outrage. |
| In 2012, the New York City health board approved Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to ban the sale of large sugary drinks in restaurants and other venues. But a court struck down the proposal in 2013. The Bloomberg administration appealed and lost. | |
| The new law has divided the French, who consume fewer soft drinks per capita than residents of most other countries. “Each person has to take responsibility,” a 21-year-old man told the newspaper Le Parisien. Restaurants “might as well put scales in front of each fast-food joint.” | |