Italy, long regarded as the birthplace of the Mediterranean diet, is now grappling with one of Europe's highest rates of child obesity, according to the World Health Organization. The problem is especially severe in southern regions such as Campania, where the town of Ponticelli, near Naples, has gained notoriety as one of the world's child obesity hotspots, with doctors reporting they are now treating teenagers for conditions once seen mainly in patients decades older.

Cases highlighted include a 17-year-old weighing 170kg who is awaiting weight-loss surgery but has been told his weight makes the operation too dangerous, and a two- to three-year-old already weighing 25kg according to one paediatrician. Experts say the traditional Mediterranean diet of vegetables, legumes, olive oil and fish, which inspired global health research in the 1950s, is now followed by only around 10% of Italians, having been replaced by a diet dominated by pizza, pasta, potatoes, protein and bread, alongside a rise in ultra-processed foods and fast food such as chip-laden pizza slices. In parts of Campania, more than 40% of eight- and nine-year-olds are overweight, and doctors note many parents fail to recognise their children's weight as the cause of related health problems.