OBESITY HITS HOME REGION OF MEDITERRANEAN DIET

The Mediterranean diet is widely heralded as being among the healthiest in the world. So why is obesity in the region skyrocketing? According to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO), Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malt, San Marino and Spain have the highest rates of childhood obesity in Europe. The Mediterranean diet favours plant-based foods — vegetables and fruit, legumes, nuts,

olive oil and whole grains — fish and poultry over red meat and processed foods. Dr. João Breda, head of the WHO European office for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, attributes the soaring levels of childhood obesity in the region to the fact that processed foods and sugary soft drinks have supplanted traditional foods.