Italians Lose Appetite for Healthy Mediterranean Diet

[Monroe]

I will wait to see if jaclaz weighs in on this ... this is my diet ! ... man, don't tell me it's over ... no point in wanting to move to Italy now. I still like the Italian accent and the old violins ... hope that's not on the way out.

 

Italians Lose Appetite for Healthy Mediterranean Diet

 

Fears of obesity epidemic as Italians turn away from vegetables and fish in favour of red meat and dairy produce.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/12072005/Italians-lose-appetite-for-healthy-Mediterranean-diet.html

 

By Alice Philipson, Rome

 

28 Dec 2015

 

 It has long been lauded by doctors across the world for its health benefits and life-lengthening properties, but it appears the Mediterranean diet is becoming increasingly unpopular in Italy.

 

A study has shown that fewer than half of Italians now eat a traditional diet rich in vegetables, olive oil, pasta and fish.

 

Instead, many people are turning to foods more commonly found in the British or North American diet, including red meat and butter.

 

Scientists at the Institute of Clinical Physiology in Pisa found that a diet low in fruit and vegetables and high in dairy and protein was linked with obesity – a phenomenon once rare in Italy, but now increasingly common.

 

The study, published in the Eating and Weight Disorders journal, measured to what extent Italians adhered to the principles of the Mediterranean diet on a scale of one to ten.

 

 “Fifty years ago our country measured between eight and 10, depending on the region,” study coordinator Antonino De Lorenzo, a diet and nutrition professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, told Corriere della Sera. “Now it’s less than two. Almost like in the United States, where it’s less than one.”

 

Overall, only 43 per cent of Italians now eat a diet rich in vegetables, olive oil, pasta and fish. Instead, one Italian in three follows a diet classed as "lacking in fruit and vegetables", eating an average of one or two vegetable portions a week.

 

 Almost a quarter of Italians – 23 per cent – said they preferred a "Western-like” diet, eating red meat and dairy products once or twice a day.

 

However, far more young people – 31 per cent – admitted a preference for foreign eating habits than those aged between 55 and 64 years – 16 per cent.

 

The findings come several years after Italy was found to have the highest proportion of overweight children in Europe.

 

more at the link ...

 

[jaclaz]

As my mother (which is now more than a bit overweight, BTW) always tells me "during the war everyone was slim" , if you prefer up to the 60's it was more out of *need* than out of *fashion*...

 

I am anyway sorry for the (seemingly) 57% of Italians  that chose to follow the new "fashion".

 

As often happens however the article is the usual alarmist mish-mash of badly or unreferenced data, worthless both journalistically and scientifically.

 

The Author of the article, Alice Philipson, (just check a few of her articles, they are full of typos and misspellings):

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/alice-philipson/

doesn't even check what she writes, and the referenced coordinator is a nutritionist that is known to have previously given catastrophic or "extremist" opinions, here, in 2012:

http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2012/03/16/esiste-ancora-dieta-mediterranea/197856/

(use google translate) he stated that only 10% of Italians actually followed the mediterranean diet, so if we have to trust this article (and the unreferenced scientific paper behind it) the amount of people eating "right" is 4 (four) times that of 3 years ago

 

We should rejoice.

 

jaclaz

[dencorso]

IMO, anyone can get over 100 years old, on 200g of pumpernickel and 200g of casu marzu thrice a day... however, is it worth it?

[Dibya]

IMO, anyone can get over 100 years old, on 200g of pumpernickel and 200g of casu marzu thrice a day... however, is it worth it?

those will never full the stomach , that can cause severe digestion problem. How much a person thats not a matter but howmuch they work that is realy matter, a person get amount of hunger according work done by him. If somebody wants keep body fit they should do regular exercise but somebody is super lazy like me then exercise is nightmare.