Health in Italy

Olive oil and vegetables are central to the Mediterranean diet.[1]

Italy is known for its generally very good health system, and the life expectancy is 80 for males and 85 for females, placing the country 5th in the world for life expectancy,[2] and low infant mortality. In comparison to other Western countries, Italy has a relatively low rate of adult obesity (below 10%[3]), as there are several health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.[4] The proportion of daily smokers was 22% in 2012, down from 24.4% in 2000 but still slightly above the OECD average.[5] Smoking in public places including bars, restaurants, night clubs and offices has been restricted to specially ventilated rooms since 2005.[6]

In 2013, UNESCO added the Mediterranean diet to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of Italy (promoter), Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Croatia.[7][8] As with any developed country, Italy has adequate and sufficient water and food distribution, and levels of nutrition and sanitation are high. In Italy, medical care is provided for free under a universal healthcare system, which operates on the assumption that healthcare is a human right and should be accessible to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.[9]

  1. ^ Duarte, A., Fernandes, J., Bernardes, J. & Miguel, G. (2016). "Citrus as a Component of the Mediterranean Diet". Journal of Spatial and Organizational Dynamics. 4: 289–304.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "World Health Statistics 2016: Monitoring health for the SDGs Annex B: tables of health statistics by country, WHO region and globally". World Health Organization. 2016. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Global Prevalence of Adult Obesity" (PDF). International Obesity Taskforce. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  4. ^ Dinu, M; Pagliai, G; Casini, A; Sofi, F (10 May 2017). "Mediterranean diet and multiple health outcomes: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies and randomised trials". European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 72 (1): 30–43. doi:10.1038/ejcn.2017.58. hdl:2158/1081996. PMID 28488692. S2CID 7702206.
  5. ^ "OECD Health Statistics 2014 How Does Italy Compare?" (PDF). OECD. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Smoking Ban Begins in Italy | Europe | DW.COM | 10 January 2005". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  7. ^ "UNESCO Culture Sector, Eighth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee (8.COM) – from 2 to 7 December 2013". Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  8. ^ "UNESCO – Culture – Intangible Heritage – Lists & Register – Inscribed Elements – Mediterranean Diet". Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  9. ^ Butticè, Claudio (2019). Universal health care. Health and medical issues today. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood. ISBN 978-1-4408-6844-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)