I\u00a0haven’t written much about the Dukan Diet,\u00a0primarily because\u00a0it’s a hybrid of the\u00a0old Stillman and Atkins diets.\u00a0\u00a0In 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,\u00a0exclusionary\u00a0diets too – relatively low compliance and (eventual) weight regain. I haven’t seen any peer-reviewed\u00a0data to suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n
Basically, I see it as last-season’s-popular-diet, which will soon be replaced by next-season’s-popular-diet.<\/p>\n
But I guess Dukan doesn’t see it that way…\u00a0methinks\u00a0the book sales and celebrity endorsements have gone to\u00a0his head. He’s publishing\u00a0another<\/em> book – but\u00a0it’s not<\/strong> a diet book. He’s aiming higher than that, it seems.\u00a0According to Yahoo News, it’s called “An Open Letter to the Future President.”\u00a0Dukan’s new opus\u00a0concerns governmental policies to reduce the prevalence of obesity. While it hasn’t been\u00a0officially released\u00a0yet,\u00a0Dukan sent advance copies\u00a0to all 16 candidates running in France’s presidential election.<\/p>\n 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\u00a0add an “ideal weight” option\u00a0to the baccalaur\u00e9at, which would give students\u00a0extra points towards their final examination\u00a0scores\u00a0for achieving or maintaining a “normal”\u00a0BMI (between 18 and 25).<\/p>\n In US terms, this would be like giving\u00a0students bonus points to their SAT or ACT\u00a0scores\u00a0for getting or staying at a normal weight. The French baccalaur\u00e9at examinations are much more intensive and rigorous\u00a0(it’s a national exam that encompasses 17 – 23 hours of written testing, plus oral examinations), but it performs a roughly\u00a0similar\u00a0function: students have to pass it in order to qualify for admission to any of the French national universities.<\/p>\n I think you can see the problem: one’s weight has nada to do with one’s\u00a0academic achievements.\u00a0Whether a student is fat or thin\u00a0shouldn’t be a factor\u00a0in test scores or\u00a0university admissions. In addition, BMI was developed as tool for assessing populations, not individuals, so it’s a flawed standard to use.<\/p>\n