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FRANCE’S VITAL STATISTICS GO UNDER THE BODY SCANNER

Men, women and children across Europe and the US are getting bigger and fatter, but not at the same rate and not in the same places. This is a challenge for businesses from clothing retailers to airlines.

Now France, the country that invented the art of dressing well, is rising to the challenge, with a national three-dimensional measurement campaign that aims to chart the rapidly expanding vital statistics of the nation.

It has been over 30 years since France last attempted such a feat of anthropometry, and then the country used the simple tape measure. This time, state-of-the-art scanners will produce “body clouds” that map the contours of 12,000 volunteers.

Anecdotal evidence suggests there have been many changes to the average French body since Brigitte Bardot and Jean-Paul Belmondo were in their prime. While the average Marianne has put on around 2 kg since 1970, compared with more than 4 kg for the average Jean-Pierre, there has been no nationwide scientific attempt to analyse how the bulk is spread.

As in other countries, the French measurement campaign is part-financed by clothes retailers. From return rates in the stores and their own smaller-scale research, retailers have long been aware that traditional sizes – themselves aggregations of several different measurements, such as bust, waist, hip, height – are failing to satisfy as many customers as they should.

As humans change shape, retailers need to adjust the mix of variables that make up a particular size.

The obesity rate is half that of the US but even in France, backsides are fitting more snugly into airline and car seats than they did in the past.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES, Feb. 8, 2003