The World Health Organization has defined obesity as a rampant planetary epidemic wchich has also touched emergent nations from the East of Europe and North Africa that are experiencing for the first time welfare and comfort; the latest statistics state that in Europe Italy, along with England, is second only to Germany for number of fat people.
Italians eat less than 10 years ago but they keep fatting up.
In fact it is considered overweight
· 47% of the men.
· 32% of the women.
· 12% of the pupils attending the middle school and 16% of the young people of the Secondary school.
The origin of obesity and overweight has to be found in many factors
There are different types of obesity:
v Genetic and metabolic obesity: the tendency to fatten up is inherited by the genealogical tree, not obligatorily from the parents.
v Obesity due to a hyperlipidic diet: all the foods industrially manipulated are rich in lipids , very caloric and therefore fattening.
v Obesity due to the change of life style: the family structure has changed a lot during the last decades. Frequently parents work and they often eat in cafeteria, in pubs or at a self service, leaving to others the management of their meal.
v Obesity due to a hypercaloric diet; all eat too much, many times a day.
v Obesity is also due to a reduced physical activity: for years our progenitors have walked, crossed unbelievable distances wandering for impervious places, but not anymore in our times.
Italians have become sedentary: the leisure time is rarely devoted to the movement.
Few people spend 1-2 hours a week practising any games or sports.
Most of them prefers to hide behind the chronic lack of time due to the job, to the family, to the study.
They talk of sport in a bar or in front of the T.V., the cinema is preferred to the gym or to jogging.
Overweight and obesity are linked to a very low consumption of calories in the regular daily occupations than to an excessive food intake.
Mediterranean Diet Calabrian culinary tradition and typical recipes