Thanks to Jan at The Low Carb Diabetic for turning me on to this BBC article:
Daily life is not easy for Salvatore. At 17, he weighs 170kg (26st 10lb) and struggles to walk.
He can’t tie his own shoelaces and his Vespa scooter strains to bear his weight – in one week, its wheels broke seven times.
“He eats constantly,” says his mother Anna.
Salvatore is among a growing number of Italian children and teenagers living with obesity. The problem is particularly acute in the south: in parts of the Campania region, more than 40% of eight and nine-year-olds are overweight. The town of Ponticelli, on the outskirts of Naples, has earned the unenviable reputation as one of the world’s child obesity capitals.
It is a striking development in a country long regarded as the spiritual home of the Mediterranean diet. Yet today, Italian children are among the most overweight in Europe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
RTWT.
—–Steve Parker, M.D.
Hello Steve and thanks for the shout out 🙂
I would urge your readers to use the link you provided and read the full article.
As Dr Valter Longo says “The traditional Mediterranean diet has been lost,” and “Only 10% of Italians really follow it.”
Dr Longo sums up the modern Italian diet with what he calls the “five Ps”: pizza, pasta, potatoes, protein and pane.
——-
Childhood obesity can have many causes and affects countries worldwide. It was only a few years ago that tens of thousands of children became overweight or obese during the pandemic and now could face “lifelong health consequences”. Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century.
——-
Eat whole fresh food … for example enjoy fish, enjoy vegetables. Pizza can be enjoyed but how about a cauliflower pizza crust? A low carb Mediterranean diet … tasty and with less carbs!
All the best Jan
I’ve had some good cauliflower-crust pizzas. In the States, it’s still a bit more expensive than wheat crust.