I Used To Be Fat

So I'm watching this show called "I Used to be Fat". It is featuring an 18 year old fat boy and his fat family. Over and over again, they keep saying it's because they're Italian. "Italians like to eat". "Italians show their love with food". "We're a big Italian family. With Italians it's all about the food" and so on etc. This seems like a flawed explanation though, and here's why:

1) You guys aren't Italian. Oh, I have no doubt that your ancestors were from Italy, but you were all born in America. I haven't heard an accent yet.

2) I've seen pictures of Italians. If this "Italian" excuse were valid, then everyone in Italy would be morbidly obese, since eating huge amounts of garbage would be an inherent, genetic trait. Italians are not all morbidly obese though. Somehow, many of them remain in the healthy weight range, and many are even fashionably thin. So how do you explain this, fat family? How could this be possible, if, as you suggest, All Italians spend all their time cramming their faces with food and not exercising?

3) The Italian food you're eating is a bastardization of actual Italian food. I saw what you were cooking. Traditional Italian food is high in fish, olive oil, tomatoes, vegetables and seasonings like basil and lemon juice. Pasta is eaten of course, but only in small amounts. They only use one handful of dry pasta per person, which equals maybe a cup of pasta tops. You're just eating plates of refined carbohydrates and cheese and fatty meat. In other words, you're eating like Americans.

I am IN NO WAY judging them for their eating or for their weight. If you know me, you know I am in no place to throw stones; I used to have the most horrifyingly unhealthy eating habits on the planet. I know the allure of mozzarella sticks and hot fudge sundaes. So I don't mean to talk bad about their habits; I've been there myself. I just think they should not try to make it about their ancestry. No matter where your grandparents came from, YOU live in the here and now. YOU are responsible for your health and nutrition, not your family tree. It would be like if I insisted on raising and slaughtering reindeer in my backyard because "I'm Norwegian. Norwegians eat reindeer. I come from a Norwegian family and we kill reindeer." Ancestry is not a rational basis for decision making.