This said, as US-style food becomes more mainstream (thank you, Hollywood), obesity rates are going up in Italy as well.
I lived in Pisa for 2 months and was surprised to find that the cuisine (at least in the region I stayed) focused heavily on seafood. I believe the cuisine in Sicily is a little closer to the pasta/tomato sauce centric cuisine which I grew up with in the Philadelphia area. But still, I am certain their is far more seafood in Sicily than one might think. In retrospect, I shouldn't have been surprised at the amount of seafood in the cuisine in Italy, it's a skinny peninsula and Sicily is an island. :) There is also the difference in portion sizes in Italy vs the US. I certainly have no data to support that but my anecdotal experience is in line with the hypothesis.
Among other factors, I'd say that a lot of "pasta sauces" are entirely based on vegetables and prepared from fresh ingredients, something very different from processed stuff you buy in jars.
I don't think portions are a factor -- they might be smaller, but even the smallest meal will have several different types of food (pasta, meat or fish, vegetables and then fruit). Single-portion meals are very rare.
Fructose is much more of a problem than glucose. Here's a video from one of the authors referenced in the article that explains the two metabolisms in depth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Besides whether they eat processed food or not, look into what they drink and what they have for desert in particular. In e.g. Italy or France, consumption of soda or fruit juice is low, and deserts are small and refined when it's not a simple fruit.
It's a completely different story in e.g. the UK where they binge on soda, candy, and sugary chocolate, Malta where they binge on a local soft drink so sweet your entire body is sweating with sugar from merely tasting it or Hungary where they frequently eat sweet bread and enormous sugary cakes.
Whether summering in Italy or in hot weather in the US, I don't experience hunger the same way as when I am in cold weather. My guess is my body does not need as much energy to generate heat, and I tend to drink much more water (sweating) than have a desire for food.
Of course, this is my personal experience and genetics and does not explain obesity rates in hotter parts of the US (unless rather than water people are drinking Coke).
Looking at the UK and Ireland, my few times in those countries (especially Ireland) showed me that fast food and a lack of veggies is pretty common, especially out in the local villages. There were a few entire days while traveling throughout Ireland (as a visitor) where my choices for food in some local village were basically the local fish & chips/pizza place or the pub and that was it. The local children were pretty hefty, but the farmers and other locals were about as fit as that kind of life can make you. I did manage to find a few great local restaurants, but the meals were basically local pork in cream sauces and potatoes with a few greens. It was great food if you're working a farm or something similarly labor intensive, but sedentary lifestyles are not compatible with it.
- Is corn syrup in nearly all their breads/pasta?
- Do they create their pastas(and sauce) at home rather than USA's commonly TV-dinner style or high-processed fast foods?
- I suspect that what a low income person in Italy typical eats is very different from what a low income person in America typically eats.
- This... http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/world-top-ten-carbo...
- Do they... [One million other things that make the common American's diet a horrible disaster]?
Why Italians, that eat pasta (carbohydrates) almost every day are so thin? Goddammit.