Pardon my French, but your plate is too big

Americans. So unrefined, so unsophisticated, so fat. We have this thing called -- how do you say? -- over indulgence? You know, from McDonald's to homemade dinners -- healthy or not, we just love to super-size. But not the French. Their favorite foods include cheese, pastries, wine, and other fattening fare but, despite that, only 7 percent of French adults are obese -- one-third the obesity rate here in the United States.

How did the French get so damn lucky? It's not enough that they have the sexiest accents or live in the most romantic cities. No, they also get to enjoy some of the richest (and unprocessed) cuisine on earth and then they wash it down with champagne.

According to a new American-French study, researchers have discovered the simple reason that our French friends are so thin. They eat smaller portions!Researchers compared the size of restaurant meals and other kinds of food in Paris and Philadelphia. They found that the average portion in Paris weighed 277 grams while the average portion in Philadelphia was 25 percent more -- 346 grams.

The study also found some startling differences in specific kinds of restaurants. In U.S. Chinese restaurants, diners received up to 72 percent more food than they would received at a Chinese restaurant in France.

An American chocolate bar was 41 percent larger than a French chocolate bar. A U.S. soft drink was 50 percent larger, and a hot dog was 63 percent bigger. American yogurt was a whopping 82 percent larger than yogurt in Paris.

Overall, Americans are eating larger portions and more low-quality (processed) foods -- so if you really want to say au revoir to your big derriere; take a lesson from the French.

The study was reported by MSNBC.com and can be found in the journal of Psychological Science.