[Contribution to the study of food consumption in Ticino]

After the publication of recent data on the higher cardiovascular mortality in the italian speaking region as compared to the rest of the country, the present study had for scope to search any differences in the nutritional habits of the population of the three main linguistic regions of Switzerland. The data where obtained from national enquiries (1977-1982) and gives informations about anthropometric parameters, quantity of food consumed and percentage of consumers for different food stuffs. The study reveals that swiss italian women are first in prevalence of obesity in Switzerland during the years 1979-1982. For what concerns the nutritional habits, the results are contradictory in the optic of cardiovascular prevention and are symptomatic of the double cultural influence: nordic with abundant meat and dairy products consumed and mediterranean with abundant cereal and olive oil consumed. Accent is put on the methodological limits of this study and on the necessity of epidemiological data for better guidance in health care politics.