Italy was once a model of healthy eating - now it has a child obesity problem - BBC News

The Mediterranean diet was a blueprint for healthy living, yet Italian children are among the most overweight in Europe according to WHO.

Pizza, pasta, potatoes, protein - how Italian children became so overweight

Image source, Getty ImagesBySofia BettizaBBC World Service Global Health ReporterDaily life is not easy for Salvatore. At 17, he weighs 170kg (26st 10lb) and struggles to walk.

He can't tie his own shoelaces and his Vespa scooter strains to bear his weight - in one week, its wheels broke seven times.

"He eats constantly," says his mother Anna.

Salvatore is among a growing number of Italian children and teenagers living with obesity. The problem is particularly acute in the south: in parts of the Campania region, more than 40% of eight and nine-year-olds are overweight. The town of Ponticelli, on the outskirts of Naples, has earned the unenviable reputation as one of the world's child obesity capitals.