Although I had heard about the Roseto Effect, it never dawned on me to write a piece about it until I was reminded in an interview with Dorina Lantella. Her dad was born in Roseto Valfortore in Puglia and back in the early 1900’s residents from that town founded Roseto in Pennsylvania as the first 100% Italian-American town. Italians came from Roseto Valfortore in the late 1800’s to work in the quarries which were worked primarily by immigrants from Germany, Wales and England. The Italians were not accepted and eventually created their own town in 1912.
Studies in the 1950’s and 1960’s showed the residents of Roseto had a much lower rate of heart attacks than the surrounding areas and the country in general. It was initially thought that it was due to differences in their diet. However, this was later discounted as the Italians in Roseto were consuming large amounts of pasta sausages and other foods considered to be unhealthy.
So what was the determing factor? Social Structure! Rosetans lived in a very close knit community loving each other and engaging as a community. There were many social clubs and organizations and several generations lived under one roof.
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