Women in Italy are breaking out their skinny jeans after being named some of the thinnest in Europe. Italian ladies came in second, only behind an even leaner Switzerland.
Researchers at the Imperial College of London teamed up with investigators at Harvard to study the average Body Mass Index (BMI) of every country in the world.
The study was conducted to measure the world’s expanding waistlines, as increasing trends in obesity become a pressing global health concern.
Maltese ladies weighed in as the plumpest in Europe with a BMI of 27, followed by the UK (26.9). Italian women where among the skinniest (BMI 24.8), ranking just behind their Swiss neighbors (24.1).
The chubbiest European men can be found in Ireland and Malta, both countries boast an average male BMI of 27.7. Italian men did not fare much better, tipping the scales with a BMI of 26.5. The thinnest men can be found in France (BMI 25.9).
In spite of the chubbier showing by their male counterparts, Italian ladies will soon be shedding their winter coats for svelte spring wardrobes. Perhaps the secret lies in their UNESCO-protected Mediterranean Diet?
