The increase in life expectancy has slowed down throughout Europe since 2011, including Italy. This is what research by the University of East Anglia (UEA), published in 'The Lancet Public Health', finds. Why does longevity slow down? According to the authors of the work, the main culprits are the food we eat, physical inactivity and obesity, and of course the Covid pandemic has also played a role. What happens to Italians in detail? According to the table on average annual changes in life expectancy, reported in the study, life expectancy grew annually by 0.24 years between 1990 and 2011, and continued its growth but to a lesser extent between 2011 and 2019, at the rate of 0.16 years. Then, in the Covid years, from 2019 to 2021 there was a significant slowdown, with the average annual loss of 0.36 years. Of all the countries studied, England experienced the most significant slowdown. This means, experts note, that instead of hoping to live longer than our parents or grandparents, we may find that we are dying sooner.