Auxology and the aubergine

Auxology, not in my Oxford English Dictionary, is apparently the study of human growth, and according to the Auxology Institute of Milan, Italians are growing more than most. Outwards, that is, not upwards.

Despite being famed for its Mediterranean diet, Italy has the highest proportion of overweight children in Europe. The diet has, it would appear, been abandoned for the sort of fast food the rest of Europe eats.

One issue must be that more Italian women are working and haven't the time to cook for their children.

So as the British increasingly eat like Italians, Italians increasingly eat like British. It seems a shame, really.