Buddy of mine has been over there a few times to visit family and he says there are no obese people and most of the people are pretty thin. His theory (which I believe) is all the food is natural and not loaded up with chemicals like it is here. You have to ask "If we are giving animals chemicals to make them large quickly and we eat those animals, are we not taking in those chemicals to some extent?"

Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat - Italy Key Facts
They are certainly a lot less obese than USA or UK but I don't think any country should be complacent.
The march of industrialised food production is such that more and more food/drink is prepared and consumed away from home.

Ted, I was in el salvador last week and there are some seriously overweight people there. They love pizza hut and KFC.

I agree with you and the chemicals in these foods cause obesity not because some overeat but because it causes an imbalance.

I think if you listen to what obese kids say you may come to understand that it's the addictive nature of modern junk foods that is driving the overeating and lethargy
I don't understand why we ensure addictive substances aren't all dealt with in a similar fashion.
No one would suggest to an drug/alcohol addict they should have small amounts through the day and that would solve the problem of addiction. If it doesn't work for alcoholics or substance abusers why should it work for those addicted to refined carbohydrates, sugars HFCS or omega 6 seed/vegetable oils. It's the changes in food supply over the last 100yrs that are driving the current obesity epidemic and taxing sodas and junk foods is the most sensible way to price them out of the market.

I don't know about Italians but here locally, I see looooots of Latinos at the Grocery store. I see very
few who aren't overweight & many who are Waaaaaaaaaaaay overweight.
Women & kids especially!

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May you always have..Love to Share, Health to Spare, and Friends that Care!

A couple weeks ago I saw a hemotologist. He just came back from a month long vacation in Italy. He said there were shepherds with their goats crossing the street. Life is different there. He said if he ate one more piece of fatty meat, sausage and lard he was going to be sick. They served a lot of lard-filled recipes. lol But the irony is there weren't many fat people. Hmmmm....I'm all out of my grass-fed lard. seriously!

If you scan the posts on this board, you will see, lard is OK, Margarines, GMO oils and simple carbs are not.

Italians not only that are not fat, but they also live longer. You would be surprised to see how many of them reach 100 years. Their way of living is totaly different...