The
London Daily Telegraph reported recently that high-class eaters tend to be thinner and healthier. That's not because of
what they're eating but
how they eat it--properly.
Dr. Ian Campbell, director of the British National Obesity Forum explains it this way:
Structured habits are really beneficial in dieting. Those who eat more slowly, who chew for longer, who wait longer between courses and who generally spend more time over their eating, are less likely to be overweight. A behavioural framework allows people to regain control of the speed at which they eat.
Since it really takes about 15-20 minutes for the body to register how much food it has take in, it is easy to trick the body into accepting more calories than it can safely take in. People who gulp down their food are twice as likely to be overweight than those who daintily coordinate fork with knife.
I know that I feel that here in America we gulp down food everywhere. A typical meal that I eat in an American restaurant takes between 20 and 35 minutes. If we get up to 45, the waiters are ready to kick us out!
I found in my travels in France & Germany, that a meal wasn't considered a meal if it lasted
less than 1 hour!
So pass the food, pour drinks for others, eat with knife and fork. It's good for you, and it's classy too. Below are several specific recommendations that the Telegraph article made.
Sit up straight.
Don’t overload your fork.
Rest your cutlery between mouthfuls.
Finish everything on your plate – so don’t overload it in the first place.
Burn two calories a minute by washing-up.
Don’t snack. You won’t catch the upper classes eating Mars bars at the bus stop. 
