Feature: How to cope with overweight children in Italy

Italy is famous for its healthy Mediterranean diet, yet its adolescents have been found by a recent study of the World Health Organization (WHO) to be the most overweight in Europe. Xinhua has talked to local experts and families to understand the reasons behind this apparent contradiction.

   "There are two main reasons for this result. Firstly, sport is not a habit for many boys and girls in Italy, and secondly, the Mediterranean diet has often been replaced by unhealthy eating models in recent times," Giuseppe Morino, a pediatrician and head of the nutrition department at the pediatric hospital Bambino Gesu in Rome, said on Thursday.

   Italian children and adolescents, he said, now live in a strongly urbanized environment where they easily develop a sedentary lifestyle. Meanwhile, the pace of life leaves their families no time or opportunity to make them used to favoring fruit, vegetables, fish and legumes -- the basics of Mediterranean diet -- over snacks and fast food.

   Another factor adding to the problem are the crises afflicting traditional families: single-parent families affect children in that they are often moved around from one place to another which compromises healthy eating and regular exercise. 

   In Italy, more than 30 percent of boys aged 11 to 13 and 25 percent of 15-year-old boys are overweight or obese, according to the WHO study. And in the latter age group, only 5 percent of girls and 11 percent of boys engage in at least one hour of physical exercise a day.

   Morino said cultural and economic factors must also be taken into account. He noted that for many parents, especially in less developed areas of Italy, namely the southern regions, having fat kids has traditionally been associated with good health.

   Therefore, raising awareness, both in families and at school, is fundamental to spreading good eating habits, especially when children in the two-to-four-year age range begin to select the food they most like, he pointed out. Some progress has been made, he said, citing a 2014 health ministry study which showed a slight reduction of overweight children in Italy for the first time since 2008.

   Among the efforts carried out by the Italian state, there is a European program implemented by the Italian agricultural, food and forestry policies ministry, named Frutta nelle Scuole (Fruit in Schools), which aims at replacing snacks with fresh fruit and vegetables in Italy's primary schools, and educating students in healthy eating.

   "We are present in around 7,000 schools throughout Italy and the program is attended by more than one million children," the ministry's Pasquale Giuditta told Xinhua. Since 2009, the program, which is 80 percent funded by the European Union (EU) and 20 percent by Italy, has received an average of over 30 million euros (33.95 million U.S. dollars) per year.

   Besides distributing a large variety of fruit and vegetables in schools, the program also supports a number of activities that mix play and learning, including farm tours, meetings with nutritionists, and scientific training for teachers.

   Among the parents who are satisfied with the program is Irene Consigliere, a journalist at Milan-based Corriere della Sera newspaper. Her children's school has adopted the program and she personally believes in the fundamental importance of healthy nutrition.

   "I know that what they eat is crucial for their future, first as adolescents and then as adults," said Consigliere, who has a nine-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son.