Although cardiovascular diseases still represent the first cause of mortality in our country today, responsible for 44% of all deaths, with a higher prevalence than the European average, almost the majority of young people are convinced that prevention is useless and that behaviors do not affect cardiovascular health. This is demonstrated by the data of a survey of 10,000 students aged between 12 and 19, conducted by the Adolescent Laboratory Association and the Iard Research Institute, in collaboration with the De Gasperis Foundation of Milan.
Participants were asked which in their opinion was the most widespread disease and which was the most serious among those causing the greatest mortality among cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and Covid-19. The results of the survey welcomed with concern by the experts of the ‘Il Cuore Siamo Noi’ Foundation, on the occasion of the day dedicated to the fight against preventable risk factors, show that after the pandemic young people have become more skeptical about cardiovascular prevention and less worried the severity and prevalence of heart disease. From 2019 to today, the percentage of children who do not believe there are behaviors suitable for preventing cardiovascular diseases. has increased from 30% to over 45%. On the other hand, the perception of the seriousness of heart diseases has halved: a decrease from 30 to 16% among those that cause greater mortality, so much so that young people believe cancer is 4 times more deadly.
“Covid and the complex situation in which young people have found themselves living in recent years have reduced children’s confidence in cardiovascular prevention and also their perception of the seriousness of heart disease, prompting them to let their guard down – notes Francesco Barillà, president of the ‘Il Cuore Siamo Noi’ Foundation – All this has led to an excess of compensatory food, greater sedentary lifestyle, increased consumption of alcohol and smoking”. “All these behaviors only expose children to very serious cardiovascular risks once they become adults – underlines Pasquale Perrone Filardi, president of the Italian Society of Cardiology -. But it is precisely starting from correct lifestyles that this trend can be reversed”.
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