Item about France being out of shape (5)
I believe the answer is:
unfit
'out of shape' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'item about france' is the wordplay.
'item' becomes 'unit' (I've seen this before**).
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'france' becomes 'f'.
'unit' enclosing 'f' is 'UNFIT'.
'being' is the link.
(Other definitions for unfit that I've seen before include "Unsuitable" , "Ill - out of shape" , "Ill-suited" , "Not in good physical condition, or not suitable" , "Not healthy" .)