Italians have been turning up their noses at the country’s traditional Mediterranean diet and opting instead for red meat, butter and dairy products.
Only 43% of the population is believed to stick with the traditional diet rich in seasonal vegetables, fruit, olive oil, pulses and seafood.
Instead, one Italian in three has a diet classed as "lacking in fruit and vegetables", eating an average of one or two vegetable portions a week.
This has raised fears that the obesity epidemic will not fall off quickly. 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.
Italy already has the highest proportion of overweight children in Europe, with more than a third overweight or obese already by the age of eight.
The rate for adults is rising, but the country still has one of the lowest rates in Europe with just 10% classes as obese.
About 30% of Italy’s young people said they preferred a “Western” in-take of red meat and dairy diet to the Mediterranean one.
That diet is credited with having a long list of benefits, including staving off the onset of diabetes and Alzheimer’s. A recent study in Spain found it cut the risk of breast cancer for older women by more than two-thirds.
After some 20 years of research, the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet were first put forward in 1970 in The Seven Countries Study.
The study revealed a strong correlation between the diets of southern European countries and a lower incidence of coronary heart disease and strokes.
