Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Italy's Health Threatened by "Americanization"

The ANNOTICO Report

 

It's a paradox that Italy, the country of the Mediterranean Diet, being pushed hard by Nutritionists in America, needs to introduce nutritional guidance because of advertising, consumerism and the hurry people are in, brought about by the American Influence.

 

 

La Dolce Vita: Italians Troppo for Tutti Fruitti

 

The Age

Queensland, Australia

Tom Kington, Rome
February 21, 2007

LONG revered as models of healthy living and eating, Italians are abandoning the fruit and vegetable-based Mediterranean diet in favour of soft drinks, cigarettes and deep-fried food, and are paying for it with their lives.

Italy's Health Ministry is planning to send emergency rations of fruit into schools, hospitals and offices after research revealed Italians are dying in their droves from diseases linked to alcohol, smoking and processed food.

Southern regions around Naples are worst hit, said Walter Ricciardi of Rome's Catholic University, the author of one study.

"Bad food and smoking in the south is pushing the level of diabetes above the national average, while the south is also catching up with the north on tumours."

Unveiling a series of health initiatives, Health Minister Livia Turco said "killer" ailments linked to poor lifestyle, including heart disease, tumours, diabetes and respiratory disease, were implicated in nine out of 10 deaths in Italy.

"Rising obesity and weight problems, a return to smoking, rising juvenile alcoholism, bad diet and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle are now general tendencies," she said, noting that 41 per cent of Italians undertake no physical activity. Obesity levels have risen to 9 per cent.

Ms Turco's action plan includes promoting health education in schools, reducing the price of fresh vegetables and encouraging the sale of fruit from vending machines in schools, factories and offices.

"During a recent visit to China the minister was impressed by the fruit set out as a snack during government meetings, rather than the biscuits served in Rome," said a Health Ministry spokesman.

Ms Turco said: "It's a paradox that the country of the Mediterranean diet needs to introduce nutritional guidance because of advertising, consumerism and the hurry people are in."

 

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