Once again the Mediterranean Diet is in the news for its health promoting properties. Not only is this diet promoted for its “heart healthy” benefits, it is also sold to the public as the best way to achieve and to maintain a healthy body weight. However, I have come to the opposite conclusion.

In order to provide proof beyond any reasonable doubt of the culpability of diet, I have put this table together showing the incidence of obesity compared to fat intake in various countries worldwide. (I have highlighted the countries of Southeast and East Asia in green and the Mediterranean countries in yellow. The few countries in these regions that have become westernized are highlighted in blue.)

Nine out of 11 of the countries with the lowest rates of obesity (<10% incidence) are in Southeast and East Asia. The one exception is Malaysia. If I include Malaysia in this region of the world then the obesity rate is 4.8 percent. When I exclude Malaysia, which has had in recent years a more rapid transition to a diet of animal foods and oils then the rest of Asia, then the obesity rate is only 3.6 percent.

Now look at the Mediterranean countries. Most of them fall in the middle range of obesity incidence, with the only exception being Italy, which has a fairly low rate of obesity. (However, the rate of obesity among Italian children is high, indicating a trend toward joining other Mediterranean countries in the near future.) When Italy is included, then the average obesity rate for the Mediterranean countries is 18.8 percent. Without Italy, it is 19.6 percent.

While education and financial matters are often cited as important variables, I can confidently tell you that these are not the problem. Consider that some of the strongest economies are in Southeast and East Asia where people are trim and healthy. Bankruptcies are everyday news in the Mediterranean regions. Educational achievement follows a similar pattern, with the highest levels found throughout Asia.

Comparing rates of obesity worldwide gives the most compelling clues about the best diets for achieving and maintaining a trim body weight. In Asia, where the bulk of the food is rice, with no dairy foods, and very little meat, fewer than 5 percent of people are obese. Make nuts and olive oil a focus of eating, i.e. the Mediterranean Diet, and the obesity rates hit 20 percent. In the US and other Western countries, where meat, dairy products, and vegetable oils satisfy people’s appetites, overweight and obesity have become the norm. (Obesity is a more severe form of being overweight, which affects nearly two-thirds of Americans.)

Even more than the obnoxious habit of smoking, the greatest health challenge to the US and other Western countries is the food, which causes obesity and associated illnesses, such as type-2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and common cancers (breast, prostate, and colon). Obesity now affects 34 percent of Americans. My conclusion from this worldwide comparison is that it is time for doctors, dietitians, scientists, and national leaders to focus on rice instead of nuts and olive oil in an effort to solve the obesity epidemic. My advice to individuals is to forget the Mediterranean Diet—you and your family deserve better.