Paper short abstract:

Drawing from a critical deconstructionist review of the PNNS and PO, I discuss the "diagnostic narratives" underlying French public policies on obesity. I then analyze the rationales of the latest instruments for the regulation of individual behaviour and debate their scope for citizenship action.

Paper long abstract:

France launched in 2001 its 1st National Nutrition and Health Program (PNNS1 2001-2006), in which the regulation of food consumption and eating habits became defined as a public health concern. Whilst its antecessor singled out children as an at-risk population for obesity, PNNS2 (2006-2010) started addressing obesity as a national public health problem. Namely it introduced obesity as a shared problem that transcends specific groups and threatens the whole nation. Obesity Plan (PO 2009-2013) reinforced this idea of the French nation being affected as a collective subject by the so-called global epidemic and brought in the policy agenda the need for actions. The current PNNS3 (2011-2015) officially recognizes obesity as a multifactorial chronic illness that tends to worsen over time. But when it comes to the public actions to tackle it, it follows in the step with the lifestyle drift-based social engineering approach. Drawing from a critical deconstructionist review of the different PNNS and the PO, this paper discusses the "diagnostic narratives" underlying French public policies on obesity. It then focuses on the two policy instruments that are being implemented to regulate individuals' behaviour: i.e., the simplified nutritional food labelling and the patient education programs lead by "patient-experts". What are the rationales behind these two micro-level behaviour change devices? To what extent can they be understood as leading to consumer/patient empowerment? What are the roles played (or that can be played) by consumers and/or obese people (both patients and non-patients) organizations to foster community action?