Inside the Greek paradox

Australia’s first-generation Greek migrants are among the longest living people in the world. Our cover story today examines why.

The protective health benefits of the lauded Mediterranean diet aren’t the only takeout from Cameron Stewart’s story on the longevity of Australia’s first-generation Greek migrants. Experts believe their adherence to a traditional diet explains in part why this generation have a longer life even though they are not necessarily healthier. “They still have higher rates of diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease etc but somehow they get away with it and end up living longer,’’ one researcher said.

But there’s more to it than that – these early Greek migrants practise religious fasting for between 40 and 100 days a year, grow their own vegetables (many are still tending gardens well into their eighties), and cook and socialise around food. Cameron’s interviewees were horrified at the habit of families eating dinner on the couch, watching TV. Jimmy Stratos says that in his family, the dining table is the centre of life. “Here we talk, we fight, whatever, but we all do it together.”