Gaia Cottino, PhD in Cultural Anthropology is currently Adjunct Professor at the American University of Rome, Teaching Assistant at the Università di Roma La Sapienza and Alsos Post-Doc Grant Fellow at the Universita' di Napoli L'Orientale. In the past ten years, she has carried out long fieldwork activities mainly in Oceania, in Hawaii and Tonga, focusing on food, health and body issues, with a specific attention to global and local health and nutrition policies. She has worked as a freelance consultant for different Italian institutions (Federalimentare) and research centers (Osservatorio permanente sui giovani e l’alcol) carrying out qualitative research on eating and drinking practices and lifestyles in Italy and Europe. Member of the Centro Studi Cibo e Alimentazione (Study Center on Food and Nutrition) of the Università degli studi L’Orientale di Napoli (Italy) and three anthropological associations (EASA, ASAO and ESFO), she has participated to numerous International conferences and held seminars and lectures in many Italian and foreign universities. Her book Il peso del corpo (Unicopli) is currently a text book in many Italian universities.