ITALIAN children are so overweight that they have been told to take 30 minutes of exercise every day, preferably in the gym or playground but, “if necessary”, standing by their classroom desks.

Despite the much-vaunted Mediterranean diet and the importance to Italians of presenting a “bella figura” (cutting a fine figure), surveys show that most Italian children are as addicted as their counterparts in other Western societies to crisps, snacks and fizzy drinks.

Sixty per cent of all Italian children under the age of eighteen are overweight, a figure which has doubled “in four or five years”, says Letizia Moratti, Minister of Education. The new scheme requires schoolchildren to play with a ball or do gymnastics for half an hour a day. Alternatively they can carry out “deportment exercises” and “simple movements” in the classroom.

The pilot scheme involves children up to the age of 14 in nearly 200 schools in Piedmont, Lombardy (including Milan), Abruzzo, Puglia and Calabria. Signora Moratti said that the scheme would be extended to all state schools next year.

The “fight child obesity” scheme is being organised by the Ministry of Education with the help of parents’ associations, teachers’ trades unions, the Italian Association of Paediatricians, nutritionists, food industry organisations and sports groups. The plan also has the support of Confindustria, the Italian equivalent of the CBI, on the grounds that “overweight and inactive children will become inefficient contributors to the national economy”.

Signora Moratti said that the combination of an “ill-advised diet” and lack of exercise had produced a “national emergency”.

Teachers are to be issued with an illustrated handbook showing children how to exercise at home as well as at school, with the manual divided into three sections: posture, games and gymnastics. All schools will also be issued with a “health kit” including rubber mats and balls.

Sports do not form a systematic part of the curriculum in most state schools and few have playing fields. Parents are expected to pay for children to use sports clubs outside school hours.

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