Italy hasn’t grown up for 35 years and the city’s children are shorter – breaking latest news

L’height reached by the new generations a rather reliable index of a child’s nutritional status and well-being, which in turn derives from the possibilities offered by the country in which he lives (as well as from personal history). A recent research, published at the end of March in the scientific journal Natureshows that over the past three decades the height difference between adolescents and children lived in countryside or in urban areas decreased and, in the case of more developed countries, almost faded. Previously, city children were taller.

The urban disadvantage

Nutrition, socio-economic situation or access to social and health services, in addition to genetics, are determining factors for development and growth. The Nature study monitored data from 194 countries between 1990 and 2020 for children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 based on area of ​​residence.
In 1990, city-dwelling children and adolescents were taller than their rural counterparts in all states except a few high-income countries.
By 2020, the urban height advantage has declined in most places and in many high-income Western countries has turned into a small urban disadvantage. The authors of the study argue that, while the city once offered greater growth opportunities from every point of view (education, health services, economic factors, food availability), the urban environment is currently disadvantaged because it concentrates greater risks of poverty, social exclusion and, consequently, a worse diet. Beyond the difference between countryside and city, it is interesting to note which one it is the Italian data recorded by the studio and reflect on what they are the factors which determine the height of an individual.

Stable stature in Italy for 35 years

Therefore, extrapolating the data from Nature’s research for our country shows how from 1985 to 2020 the average height of children and adolescents is substantially stable (see the figure below, in which the difference between areas of residence is not highlighted, ed). This happens because we Italians are probably reaching the genetic target and therefore more than a total we cannot go up,” he explains Ilaria Lazzareschi, pediatrician of the UOC Pediatrics of the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health of the IRCCS Policlinico Gemelli in Rome —. From the early 1900s to the 1980s, boys on average had increased by about 10-12 cm. Probably the improved social conditions are making us reach the genetic target.
According to the statistics of the Ncd Risk Factor Collaboration (an international network of 800 researchers that collaborates with the World Health Organization) the Italian average height of a man in 2016 was 177.8 cm, while that of women was 164.6 cm. In the historical series of Istat in 1915 the average height was 166.19 cm, while in 1980 it was 174.58 cm. In 2016 Italy was in 29th place (out of 179 countries) for the height of men and 32nd for that of women.

What is the genetic target with respect to height?

the possibility of growth that we have based on genetics of our parents: children of tall parents are more likely to be tall and children of short parents are less likely to be tall – clarifies the specialist -. This genetic heritage it can be accomplished fully only if all other elements are favourable: nutrition, psychosocial well-being, hormones, medications (see explanation below, ed)
. Then the “target” also depends on the population – adds Lazzareschi -: in Italy we now have the influence of many other ethnic groups. At Gemini we see many children who have an Asian or Eastern European parent. In a few years, the trend of height that we observe could change. Just the competition of so many elements makes difficult to make predictions accurate about a child’s future height (see WHO the calculation of the probabilities of height on a genetic basis, therefore excluding the factors discussed later in the article, ed.).

Even when the parents are very tall or short?

There is a height that we will never exceed because it depends on our genetic heritage, but it is said that it is not greater than that of our parents, given that reaching the maximum depends on the living conditions. Then we don’t know if our parents have developed all the potential – says the doctor -: a father 1.70 tall, who due to being ill as a child, could have reached 1.80. Then the son against all odds could reach 1.80 or more and so on, even downwards.

What other factors determine height?

We have mentioned the genetic one. Then there is thediet in the first years of life – continues the expert -: a deficiency or a bad absorption interfere until theundefined heightthat is, after pubertal development, when the growth plates (on average from 16 to 20 years).

So can eating badly also affect growth?

Yes, meanwhile in the first year of life the best food is breast milk, then eating badly (foods rich in fat and sugar, the classic “junk food”) leads to an increase in weight which is indirectly proportional to growth in height. THE fats found in some foodsin fact, they stimulate hormonal production more – says Lazzareschi – and if sex hormones intervene ahead of time, the growth plates are welded firsttherefore, overweight boys may be shorter.

Are there other elements, did you mention illness?

Of course, and they are more “personal”: the use of drugswhich in some cases can interfere with the height, hormonal factors (e.g. hypothyroidism) resulting from disease. Even the stress factor one of the causes of poor growth. We see this in children who experience anxiety, abuse, or maltreatment. Even in the opposite direction: here at Gemelli – says the doctor – we have found that all children adopted from anywhere in the world, when they arrive in Italy and find a stable situation, initially have a growth spurt “out of the parameters”. Also there sleep deprivation it damages and does not favor growth hormone, concludes the expert.

Returning to the study from which we started, it seems that in the last decade the situation of cities is not so favorable for balanced growth, what do you think?

Cities have been a stimulus to well-being for decades. 50-60 years ago city kids ate better, slept better and suffered less from seasonal changes (getting less sick) than their peers in the countryside. In Italy now the difference between the countryside and the city in lifestyle is almost non-existentinstead now those who live in the city suffer the increasingly intense “collateral” effects such as stress, noise, crowding, pollution.