Italy faces severe childhood obesity crisis despite Mediterranean diet heritage

Italy faces a severe childhood obesity crisis, with over 40% of children in parts of Campania now overweight. Despite the country's Mediterranean diet heritage, experts like Dr. Valter Longo estimate only 10% of Italians follow it, replaced by a modern diet of pizza, pasta, potatoes, protein, and bread. While Italy passed a landmark 2025 law recognizing obesity as a chronic disease, clinical trials like a fast-mimicking diet for adolescents face pushback from pediatricians warning of eating disorder risks.

Italian childhood obesity epidemic

• ▪A March 2025 report based on 2023 data estimated that 28.8% of Italian children aged 8 to 9 were overweight or obese.
• ▪The 2023 OKkio alla SALUTE survey reached 46,559 children in 2,802 classes and 45,610 parents to monitor childhood obesity in Italy.
• ▪In parts of the southern Italian region of Campania, more than 40% of children aged 8 and 9 are overweight.
• ▪The town of Ponticelli, on the outskirts of Naples, has gained a reputation as one of the world's childhood obesity capitals.

Decline of Mediterranean diet

• ▪Only around 10% of Italians still follow the traditional Mediterranean diet, according to Dr. Valter Longo.
• ▪Dr. Valter Longo describes the modern Italian diet as the 'five Ps': pizza, pasta, potatoes, protein, and pane.

Parental awareness gaps

• ▪Many Italian parents fail to recognize that their children are overweight, often seeking medical help for unrelated symptoms like coughs or stomach pain.
• ▪In Neapolitan culture, a chubby child with rosy cheeks is often traditionally viewed by parents as a sign of good health.

School-based nutrition education

• ▪Many Italian schools are housed in historic palazzi that lack the space or design to accommodate modern physical education facilities.
• ▪The Valter Longo Foundation is organizing nutrition workshops across 25 schools in Naples to reach more than 17,000 students.

Bariatric surgery for adolescents

• ▪Dr. Sonja Chiappetta at Betania Hospital in Ponticelli reports treating bariatric surgery patients who are now as young as 16.
• ▪A 17-year-old patient weighing 170kg was prescribed a GLP-1 weight-loss injection because his excessive weight made bariatric surgery too dangerous.

Fasting diet trials

• ▪Researchers in Campania are recruiting 300 overweight adolescents for a trial of a fast-mimicking diet of 1,100 calories on day one and 770 calories on the following four days.
• ▪In 2025, Italy became the first country to pass a national law recognizing obesity as a chronic, progressive, and relapsing disease.
• ▪Dr. Roberto Berni Canani warns that imposing highly restrictive diets on teenagers could increase the risk of eating disorders, anorexia, and body dysmorphia.