Dukan’s Dumb Idea

Posted By elissa on Jan 6, 2012 | 1 comment

I haven’t written much about the Dukan Diet, primarily because it’s a hybrid of the old Stillman and Atkins diets.  In other words, it’s not very original. I imagine it works, just as its predecessors did. I also imagine that it suffers from the same issues that plague other rigid, exclusionary diets too – relatively low compliance and (eventual) weight regain. I haven’t seen any peer-reviewed data to suggest otherwise.

Basically, I see it as last-season’s-popular-diet, which will soon be replaced by next-season’s-popular-diet.

But I guess Dukan doesn’t see it that way… methinks the book sales and celebrity endorsements have gone to his head. He’s publishing another book – but it’s not a diet book. He’s aiming higher than that, it seems. According to Yahoo News, it’s called “An Open Letter to the Future President.” Dukan’s new opus concerns governmental policies to reduce the prevalence of obesity. While it hasn’t been officially released yet, Dukan sent advance copies to all 16 candidates running in France’s presidential election.

One of Dr. Dukan’s policy ideas, however, has been revealed… and it’s a real brainfart, IMHO. What Dukan wants the government to do, is add an “ideal weight” option to the baccalauréat, which would give students extra points towards their final examination scores for achieving or maintaining a “normal” BMI (between 18 and 25).

In US terms, this would be like giving students bonus points to their SAT or ACT scores for getting or staying at a normal weight. The French baccalauréat examinations are much more intensive and rigorous (it’s a national exam that encompasses 17 – 23 hours of written testing, plus oral examinations), but it performs a roughly similar function: students have to pass it in order to qualify for admission to any of the French national universities.

I think you can see the problem: one’s weight has nada to do with one’s academic achievements. Whether a student is fat or thin shouldn’t be a factor in test scores or university admissions. In addition, BMI was developed as tool for assessing populations, not individuals, so it’s a flawed standard to use.

Fortunately,the French health ministry isn’t very enthusiastic…

The French health ministry said it was “astonished at Dr Dukan’s strange proposal that is unknowingly physically discriminatory”.

“The health problems of adolescents are sufficiently serious not to be taken lightly. The same goes for the bac(calaureat). It’s a test of skills and knowledge, not of health,” said a spokesman.

Indeed. There are better ways to teach students about health and nutrition; and to incentivize healthy behaviors. If this is an example of Dukan’s thinking, I’m glad I didn’t waste my time on his diet book/program.