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Fast Food Pounds Mediterranean

Posted Sep 24, 08 5:52 AM CDT in World Arts & Living Science & Health 

(Newser) – The much-vaunted Mediterranean diet is falling out of favor fast around the Mediterranean —and obesity rates are rocketing, the New York Times reports. Greek men are now the fattest people in Europe by far as the traditional diet high in vegetables and fish but low in meat is replaced by pizza and burgers in even the smallest towns.

Health officials worried about plunging life expectancies are striving to promote the benefits of the traditional diet. But they're battling an aggressive marketing of convenience foods—as well as cultures with a history of hunger now happy to indulge chubby children. "You don’t want your child complaining or feeling left out, so you give him what he wants," said one Cretan woman as her stocky son finished an ice cream cone.
Source: New York Times

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Health officials in Mediterranean countries blame the rise of fast food for people turning away from traditional diets.   (KRT Photos)
The "Definitive Guide to Greek Cuisine."   ((c) alexik)
The Mediterranean diet, promoted worldwide for its health benefits, is falling out of favor in Mediterranean countries.   (Getty Images)
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This is a place where you’d see people who lived to 100, where people were all fit and trim. Now you see kids whose longevity is less than their parents.
- Dr. Michael Stagourakis, a pediatrician in western Crete

We’ve entered an era of convenience. Even in this rural village, the diet is very different than it used to be. - Eleni Klouvidaki, who lives in a mountain village on Crete

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