Italy wants to start teaching the Mediterranean diet in schools, as another subject. The proposal of the Italian Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, is that students have one hour a week as if it were education for citizenship, with the aim of training young people to prevent diseases in the future.
This is reported by La Vanguardia, which summarizes the visit made by the minister, who is also a doctor, to the celebration of the national “made in Italy” day dedicated to the Mediterranean diet to Cilento, a city in the south of the country. It turns out that near Cilento, in Pioppi, there is a museum dedicated to the Mediterranean diet, according to the newspaper, and that it is a tribute to Ancel Kesys, an American scientist who dedicated 40 years to studying the benefits of the diet, declared intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2010.
For Schillaci, “eating in a correct and healthy way means improving one’s own state of health.” Although for now it is a proposal thrown to the wind, since there is no scheduled measure, a dialogue table has been opened with the ministers of Education, Agriculture, Sports and Youth Policies so that this weekly hour can be applied.
According to La Vanguardia, the minister’s idea is part of the battle carried out by Giorgia Meloni’s Executive to defend Italian gastronomy against technological innovations and products from foreign competition.
The same newspaper highlights that the data from the Italian ministry is clear: following the diet strictly can reduce mortality by almost 10%.
