Zorba the obese
Comments (5)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 | 03:42 PM ET
By Peter Hadzipetros
Anthony Quinn must be in rolling his grave. He played the experience-life-in-the-moment-with-all-the-passion-you-can-muster title character in the film adaptation of Nikos Kazantzaki’s novel Zorba the Greek.
He came to personify what people on this side of the Atlantic thought about Greeks.
Back when I was a kid, if you had a Greek last name and your friends were raised on macaroni and cheese, you’d automatically get the nickname Zorba.
He ate, drank and danced with gusto. And he was fit.
A recent trip to back to the land where three of my grandparents and my mother were born was a real eye-opener. Zorba’s had a makeover. And not a very impressive one.
Yes, Greek waistlines — like those in North America — are getting noticeably bigger. And it’s happened very quickly.
According to figures released by the World Health organization, 74.6 per cent of Greeks are either overweight or obese. By far, that’s the highest rate in the European Union. Finland and Germany are closest at a little under 64 per cent.
The WHO blames the deterioration of the Greek physique on — and this isn’t rocket science — an increase in caloric intake and a decrease in activity. Greeks are eating and drinking as much — or more — as ever, but not playing nearly enough.
It’s not hard to see why. More than half the country’s population is packed into Athens where there are almost as many cars as people. The days of the stay-at-home mother — like in North America — are over as families have to work longer and harder to try to make ends meet.
Recreational facilities are tough to come by. Going for a run through the streets of Athens — a city where a piece of sidewalk is just another parking spot — is really taking your life in your hands. Only Portugal has a higher rate of pedestrian fatalities than Greece.
The traditional Mediterranean diet consists of lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh fish, a little meat and a fair bit of olive oil. All are abundant year-round in Greece.
But the diet is in trouble. More Greeks are relying on fast food and processed meals from supermarkets.
It’s ironic that as more people in the west take a Mediterranean approach to their meal plans, the WHO describes the diet as "moribund" in the region where it came to be.
The Athens Daily News recently decried the state of the diet, saying that a traditional way of life was at risk of disappearing.
Study after study suggests that the Mediterranean diet leads to a longer life, protects against chronic diseases, and can add years to your life even after a heart attack.
Couple the decline of the Mediterranean diet with a stubborn refusal to give up a national nicotine habit, and you’ve got a health basket case. The Greek government banned smoking in places like hospitals, pharmacies, airports, trains and buses back in 2002. The legislation, which was aimed at bringing Greece in line with EU smoking restrictions, was also supposed to force owners of restaurants and cafeterias to designate 50 per cent of their establishments as non-smoking. It was largely ignored.
Last May, the government announced yet another ban that is supposed to be phased in by 2010.
Somebody please tell the waiter at Thannasis souvlaki restaurant outside Monastiraki flea market in Athens. When somebody asked him for a seat in the non-smoking section, he said, "No problem."
He took the ashtray off the table.
« Previous Post | Main | Next Post »
This discussion is now Open. Submit your Comment.
« Previous Post | Main | Next Post »
Post a Comment
Back of the Pack »
About the Author
Peter Hadzipetros is a producer for the Consumer and Health sites of CBC News Online. Until he got off the couch and got into long distance running a few years ago, he was a net importer of calories.
Recent Posts
- Now that's cold!
- Peter Hadzipetros
- Tuesday, December 16, 2008
- Zorba the obese
- Peter Hadzipetros
- Tuesday, September 23, 2008
- Breaking up's not that hard to do
- Peter Hadzipetros
- Friday, July 11, 2008
- My kind of recovery
- Peter Hadzipetros
- Thursday, July 3, 2008
- Fit to be downtown
- Peter Hadzipetros
- Wednesday, June 11, 2008
- Subscribe to this blog
Recent Comments
- Although his observations are very acurate Peter has miss...
- Zorba the obese
- I want to second Ashley's comments: Lesley, you don't see...
- Zorba the obese
- Lesley, you are ridiculously misinformed. Sugars are part...
- Zorba the obese
- The Mediterranean diet is a bunch of hooey. When the firs...
- Zorba the obese
- I had a similar non-smoking experience at a greek restaur...
- Zorba the obese
Archives
- December 2008 (1)
- September 2008 (1)
- July 2008 (2)
- June 2008 (2)
- May 2008 (1)
- April 2008 (2)
- February 2008 (1)
- January 2008 (2)
- December 2007 (2)
- November 2007 (4)
- October 2007 (3)
- September 2007 (3)
- August 2007 (3)
- July 2007 (4)
- June 2007 (5)
- May 2007 (3)
- April 2007 (6)
- March 2007 (3)
- February 2007 (6)
- January 2007 (7)
- December 2006 (2)
- November 2006 (3)
- October 2006 (3)
- September 2006 (4)
- August 2006 (5)
Comments (5)
Spartan Plato
Whitby
Although his observations are very acurate Peter has missed the point. The real reason why Greeks have gone obese is the lack of sex tourism and modern Greek society's attempt to assimilate into EU culture. Let me explain. It is a well known fact that in the 80's and 90's single European women of all age would flock to Greece in the summer for the adventure of being with a young handsome Greek hunk. Any young Greek worthy of his ancestral inheritence, married men included, would oblige these lovely French, English, German, Swedish ladies. The Greek women were, of course, well aware that this was happening. So, in order to compete, they had to look pretty and stay in shape! The men did that by all the free sex they were having with foreigners. All that started to change in and around 2005, when the EU culturally assimilated Greeks came of age and stopped behaving like cavemen - for the most part. The amount of sex decreased and the waiste line increased. Since the young Greek women didn't have to compete as much anymore for their big fat Greek partners, they relaxed resulting in a bigger bossom. Hence the obesity level in Greece - coupled with the rise in number of McDonald restaurants!
Posted December 19, 2008 01:12 PM
John
Toronto
I want to second Ashley's comments: Lesley, you don't seem to understand what the Mediterranean diet is. Sausages (which, by the way, have always been more a staple of Germanic diets than Mediterranean ones) are eaten as a delicacy in Greece; they are not a main meal. Greek dishes are simple, varied, generally low in fats and sugars, and generally low to moderate in carbohydrates and proteins. What is unhealthy about domates gemistes (stuffed tomatoes) or fasolakia (green beans in an olive oil / tomato sauce)? What about lentil soup? These kinds of foods are the bedrock of the traditional Greek diet. If they seem unfamiliar, I suspect you might be basing your judgement on Westernized Greek restaurants. Let me assure you that saganaki and souvlaki are most certainly NOT staple foods!!
Posted October 1, 2008 10:30 AM
Ashley
Canada
Lesley, you are ridiculously misinformed. Sugars are part of a larger problem, the problem being too many calories consumed in general. Congrats on the weight loss, but it could have been done while eating good carbs too. You seem to have no idea what the Mediterranean diet really is though. Sausages? Really now. The Mediterranean diet is just as Peter said and thus low on bad carbs, as well as bad fats. It also provides a wonderful assortment of vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty-acids.
I suppose I can't blame your lack of reasoning and false beliefs on you though. It's been proven that carbohydrates are our "brain food", and without them, we just don't think as clearly as we should. Huh. Imagine that.
Posted September 30, 2008 04:44 PM
Lesley Moll
Ontario
The Mediterranean diet is a bunch of hooey. When the first study was done by a Doctor I can't remember the name of, after the second world war, the people there were on food rations and not eating their normal diet (which really consisted of sausage, meats, fish, eggs and cheese and olive oils and vegetables, with a small amount of rice and bread thrown in. A high fat, high protein diet.) If you look at cookbooks and history, all of the high fat sausage and meats come from that area of the world. However, they supposedly didn't eat them.
After 15 years of attempted weight loss, following the food pyramid, exercising and busting my a**, I have finally lost 55lbs. How? By cutting out grains, starches and all sugars from my diet. I eat healthy vegatables (not corn, potatoes or peas). I eat fatty meats (t-bone, prime rib), fish, chicken. I don't go out of my way to eat fat, but I don't avoid it either. My cholesterol levels, which were high, are now perfect. My weight is improved, my health is improved.
Read Good Calories,Bad Calories by Gary Taubes and learn the history of the food pyramid and the way that sugar interacts with your body.
Sugar is the culprit, whether it be in the form of fruit or complex carbohydrates, it's all sugar.
The consumption of sugar has increased 10 fold for North Americans in the last 50 years. Since the 70's fat consumption has actually decreased. So why are people getting fatter?
Carbohydrates (sugars) are the one thing that we can live without. Before the Inuit had regular contact with "the white man" they survived long periods with just meat and fat. They were healthy and lived long lives.
We have been tricked about fat, and since so many scientists bought into it, they can't back-track.
Get rid of processed foods, chemicals and most of all sugar. High Fructose Corn Syrup is a killer for our time and it's ubiquitous.
Posted September 26, 2008 08:03 AM
johnny longsleeves
Mississauga
I had a similar non-smoking experience at a greek restaurant on the Danforth. We asked to be seated in the non-smoking section where we were quickly escorted to the upper tier of a 2 tier restaurant. Guess which tier the smokers sat on? Ok, the manager forgot smoke rises. People make mistakes.
Outside of the psychadelic blue haze, the food was awesome, if not a little smokey.
Posted September 23, 2008 04:35 PM