OBESITY DAY: COLDIRETTI, 1 IN 2 ITALIANS OVERWEIGHT

(AGENPARL) – Sat 02 March 2024 2 March 2024
OBESITY DAY: COLDIRETTI, 1 IN 2 ITALIANS OVERWEIGHT
The accumulation of body fat affects 23 million adult citizens by increasing risk factors
Almost one Italian adult in two (46%), for a total of around 23 million people, is overweight or obese, a risk factor that favors many diseases such as cardiovascular problems, diabetes, hypertension, heart attack and certain types of cancer. This is what emerges from an analysis by Coldiretti based on the latest Istat data, released on the occasion of World Obesity Day which is celebrated on 4 March.
Excess weight affects 35% of the adult Italian population, with 11% even being obese, Coldiretti finds.
More obese among men, increasing young people. A more serious situation for men, where the percentages rise to 43% and 12% respectively. Women are better, where the problems of excess weight concern 28% of the population, while the share of obese women is the same.
But the phenomenon, unfortunately, does not spare even the younger generations, especially due to the tendency to eat foods rich in fats, salt and sugars often combined with carbonated drinks to the detriment of healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables. In Italy only one child in three (31.3%) consumes vegetables every day, while 7.8% say they bring them to the table less than once a week and 6% never eat them, according to the analysis of Coldiretti on the latest report dedicated to childhood obesity by the World Health Organization. What is also worrying – underlines Coldiretti – is the fact that less than half of Italian children (45.2%) consume fruit every day while as many as 4.6% declare that they bring it to the table less than once a week and 3 .6% to never eat it.