Far from getting fat on 'foreign' junk food, most Italians are still clinging to the traditional Mediterranean diet that has won so much praise from dieticians, according to new data.
Italians eat more fruit and vegetables than any other EU country except Greece, they eat almost twice as much fish as 20 years ago and - as expected - they are world's biggest consumers of pasta.
In addition to this, they drink half the alcoholic spirits they did 30 years ago and consume less cakes and sweets every year than any other nation in Europe - 25 kilos a head, compared to 58 kilos in Britain.
The latest figures, produced by the Federalimentare Italian food industry federation, were presented on Friday at the opening of the Cibus Italian food fair in Rome.
They appeared to reassure Italians who have recently been warned that they are getting fatter by the year because of a gradual abandonment of traditional eating habits and a growing tendency to eat out.
In fact, it seems that most are still more or less on the right track.
Partly thanks to the Mediterranean diet, Italian men currently have a life expectancy of 77.4 and Italian women of 83.6, figures which are far higher than the European Union average.
But while the majority of Italians appear to be still eating quite healthily, experts note a worrying tendency among the young to abandon the traditional diet of fish, fruit, vegetables, pasta and olive oil.
Farmers' association Coldiretti warned last autumn that kids are gobbling up too many sugar-laden snacks and other fattening foods, with the result that obesity levels are rising.
Statistics show that 24% of Italian children and teenagers in have major weight problems while 4% are "seriously obese".
That puts Italy at the top of the European rankings although Malta, Greece and Spain follow close on its heels.
Coldiretti claims Italy's impressive life expectancy is destined to fall unless many of today's youngsters change their habits, ideally by eating the way their parents do.
In a bid to encourage this, the government recently launched its 'Earn Health' plan, which includes a drive to make sure healthy snacks such as fruit are available in automatic dispensers in school.
