There is an iodine deficiency in females, children to adults, living in North East Italy. Deficiency of iodine leads to goiter, which is the enlargement of the thyroid gland. There is a lack of iodine in Italy because of the absence of salt iodization.

In Italy, along with a long life expectancy, there are alarming rates of overweight and physical inactivity and an abandonment of the Mediterranean diet. The agricultural sector faces challenges related to the impact on soil and water resources, the age of farmers and the absence of a strategy to promote investments in sustainable agriculture.

For the past six years, the hunger rate in Italy has maintained a steady rate of 2.5% of the population each year. Overall, this is a relatively low percentage. However, Italy's total population is about 60 million people, meaning there are about 1.5 million people who are food insecure.

Italy is working to end hunger. Italy has put in place food safety net programs, school lunch programs, and high nutritional standards for everyone. Italian government has also been cutting back on their country's food waste and feeding the food to the less fortunate. The government even put laws in place for supermarkets and grocery stores to feed their food to charities or homeless shelters before throwing them away.