Alarm sounded over obesity on Elafonisos

The residents of one small Greek island have strayed from the Mediterranean diet and an active life largely lived outdoors in favor of a more sedentary and Western way of life, resulting in high levels of obesity compared to the rest of the country, according to a group of experts who are sounding the alarm for other rural parts of Greece where similar habits are emerging.
This is the conclusion of a five-year study dubbed PERSEAS (Prospective Evaluation of Vascular Risk Surrogates) that was designed and carried out by the Medical Society for the Study of Risk Factors in Vascular Diseases in the relatively contained environment of Elafonisos off the coast of the southeastern Peloponnese in 2012-16. Starting in October 2012, the medical society's team of doctors conducted annual visits to the island in order to carry out a series of tests on 596 individuals who represented 74.5...