By Dr. Davide Sganzerla
In Italy there are many children and adolescents who complain of a bad relationship with the balance; the statistical evidence leaves no doubt: overweight and obesity in the developmental age are certainly not a rare phenomenon. In our country, in fact, in 1999-2000, the percentage of overweight children and adolescents reached about 20%, while the proportion of obese people was 4%.
The problem mainly affects the age group 6-13 years, and prefers males over females. (Giordani, 2002).
These data, resulting from the 2000 Multiscopo survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics (Istat), show the percentages of childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity in Italy according to international standards proposed by the International Obesity Task Force.
In our country, the Region with the highest presence of children and adolescents with excess weight belongs to Campania, with 36%, while the Valle d'Aosta is the Region with the lowest presence of overweight and obese children (14.3 %). Looking at the data, we note how the problem of childhood obesity gets worse by descending from the north to the south of the country. (Giordani, 2002).
As regards the main risk factors of excess weight among boys aged between 6 and 17, familiarity (both in its genetic component and in its environmental component) was taken into consideration in the analysis, a sedentary lifestyle as a lifestyle and finally the socio-economic status (in particular the level of education of the mother and the judgment on the family's economic resources).
Regarding the first factor, it emerged that having one or more parents with excess weight carries a greater risk for children and adolescents to have the same problem. More precisely, the Istat survey shows that in the presence of both overweight or obese parents, the percentage of boys with the same disorder in the age group examined is around 34%, while the share drops to 18% if none of the two parents complains of excess weight. The percentage is around 25% if only the mother (25.4%) or only the father (24.8%) weighs too much. Moreover, if in the family there is at least one obese adult, without taking into account the degree of kinship, the children between 6 and 13 years with weight problems are well 42.1%. (Giordani, 2002).
As far as lifestyles are concerned, one of the major causes of obesity and childhood overweight is a sedentary lifestyle, so much so that there is an increasing tendency to give greater importance to low energy expenditure (consequent to a sedentary life without any physical-sporting activity), compared to to the intake of very caloric foods. (Giordani, 2002).
Considering the socio-economic status, and in particular the mother's educational qualification, the data shows that the risk of childhood obesity is higher when the mother has an elementary school certificate or no educational qualification (25.9% of children and adolescents with excess weight), while it is lower when the parent's degree is a degree or a high school diploma (22.5%).
The percentage of obese or overweight children stands at 25.1% if the mother is in possession of a junior high school license. (Giordani, 2002).
Finally, again on the subject of socio-economic status, if we look at fig.6 we can see how the percentage of children between 6 and 17 years of age with excess weight is:
of 26.6% in the case in which the judgment on the economic resources of the family is negative;
of 23.1% when family financial resources are considered excellent or in any case adequate. (Giordani, 2002).
