Heart disease first killer but 45% of young people don’t believe in prevention

2023-05-25 14:06:35

The Covid pandemic has brought down young people’s perception of how serious cardiovascular disease is, also undermining faith in life-saving prevention. Although these pathologies continue to represent the number one killer, responsible for 44% of total deaths in Italy, with a higher prevalence than the European average (7,499 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), almost half of the boys are convinced that prevention is useless and that behaviors do not affect cardiovascular health. Cancer is thought to be 4 times more deadly. This is what emerges from 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 A. De Gasperis Foundation of Milan.

Participants – reports a note – were asked which in their opinion was the most widespread disease and which was the most serious, among those that cause greater mortality, including tumors, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and Covid-19. The results of the research – relaunched and 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 from 2019 to today the percentage of young people who do not believe that suitable behaviors exist to prevent cardiovascular disease has increased from 30% to over 45%. The perception of the seriousness of cardiac pathologies was also halved, from 30% to 16%.

“Covid and the complex situation in which young people have found themselves living in recent years have reduced young people’s confidence in cardiovascular prevention – explains Francesco Barillà, president of the Foundation The heart is us, associate professor of Cardiology and director of the School specialization in cardiovascular system diseases at the Tor Vergata University in Rome – and also the perception of the spread and seriousness of heart disease, prompting them to let their guard down, also because the health emergency has led to the suspension of cardiovascular prevention campaigns All this has led to a compensatory excess of food, greater sedentary lifestyle, increased consumption of alcohol and smoking: all elements that put heart health at risk, when a large part of cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by following correct lifestyles that should be practically since adolescence”.

The most alarming data on the worsening of lifestyles, especially for the youngest – the experts point out – primarily concern smoking. According to data from the Higher Institute of Health, 37.5% of boys aged between 14 and 17 have already had contact with tobacco. Even more worrying are bad habits related to diet and physical activity. A study by the World Health Organization shows that 88% of young Italians aged between 11 and 17 do not reach the recommended levels of physical activity, and less than 10% reach one hour a day . Three out of 10 do not eat breakfast, with an excessive consumption of snacks, carbonated and sugary drinks, and very few consume adequate portions of fruit (17%) and vegetables (13%).

“All of these behaviors only expose children to very serious cardiovascular risks once they become adults – warns Pasquale Perrone Filardi, president of the Sic (Italian Society of Cardiology), full professor of Cardiology and director of the School of Specialization in Diseases of the cardiovascular at the University of Naples Federico II – But it is starting from correct lifestyles, too often underestimated especially by young people, that this trend can be reversed, given that cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death and one of the leading causes of hospitalization in our country”.

“It is therefore necessary to raise awareness of correct lifestyles at all ages. And it is precisely the promotion and awareness of the importance of the prevention of heart disease, as the most effective weapon to combat them – concludes the specialist – the mission it proposes to pursue our foundation to protect public health”.