Napoleon Et L'europe, Fragments Historiques, Volume 2 (French Edition)

The high premature death rate of French men is largely due to alcohol abuse. It is nearly double the premature death rate of French women, and the magnitude of the difference is the highest in Europe, according to the French government's most recent report on health. French youth, who can legally drink at age 16, prefer beer and distilled spirits to wine and have increased their consumption five-fold since 1996 in part because 12- to 14-year-olds are drinking and binge drinking. This has led to a new government "War Against Drugs" that includes alcohol. [...] The French Paradox. Even in English the expression sounded romantic to 33.7 million Americans who first heard it in a report by Morley Safer on "60 Minutes" in November 1991. Although the French eat fatty foods and smoke more than Americans, said Safer, "if you're a middle-aged American man, your chances of dying of a heart attack are three times greater than a Frenchman of the same age. Obviously, they're doing something right - something Americans are not doing.. ...»