The “Give me 5” initiative starts in January in a thousand schools: half of Italians weigh too much and excess kilos are the cause of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, various types of tumors and many other diseases
New Year’s Resolutions: Improve your lifestyle and say goodbye to extra pounds. It is not just an aesthetic question, but of fundamental importance for the health of about half of the Italians who, according to the most recent statistics, have excess weight. While overweight and obesity are linked to premature death and are now universally recognized as risk factors for cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, many types of cancers, as well as often associated with numerous other problems (hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, asthma, complications in pregnancy, just to name a few) up to severe mood disorders and depression. It is in this context that in January 2022 the “Give me 5 – United we win” initiative will start by the Pancrazio association: in 1000 Italian schools parents and children will be involved to go to class together with the aim of learning how to eat healthy and spread the Mediterranean diet through classroom lessons, workshops, games, guides, courses, exhibitions, a portal, a television program and a festival.
Bad habits on the rise
Also due to the Covid pandemic, bad habits among Italians appear to be increasingly widespread: over 10 million compatriots, equal to 18% of those over 14, smoke regularly; 16% consume excessive doses of alcohol every day and as many as 35% of adults do not practice any physical activity or sport. While 46% are overweight and 10% even obese. “Today not only too many adults but also 44% of children in Italy weigh too much and intervention is necessary – comments Walter Willett, professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health -. The idea of starting the teaching of healthy eating from primary schools to involve not only students, but also parents is commendable: it can be an opportunity for training for everyone ». Unregulated diet and forced sedentary lifestyle worsened during the various lockdowns. «There was a weight gain of 4.5 kg in 44% of the population and an intervention is necessary – underlines Annamaria Staiano, president of the Italian Society of Pediatrics -. Children are often victims of parents’ bad eating habits and it is important to find the right way to convey the message to the little ones, without making them feel obliged to eat something they do not want. Making tasty what is good for them and teaching them that it can also be fun, stimulating them with games and activities dedicated to their age group, means preventing an incorrect lifestyle and future pathologies ».
The initiative
The “Give me 5” project includes a path that will take place in the primary schools, with meetings with nutritionists, workshops and games. The teachers will also deal with the promotion of healthy lifestyles, against a sedentary lifestyle, smoking and alcohol consumption. Children will be given a kit consisting of a guide on fruit and vegetables and one on the Mediterranean diet, with exercises and explanations. A book of adventures (Giunti Editore) will then be distributed with the superheroes of nutrition as protagonists. Both pupils and teachers will be given a questionnaire every 6 months to verify the change in diet. The teachers will be trained thanks to virtual meetings with Giuseppe Morino, pediatrics and dietician of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome. Parents will be given a manual that will take into account the same path made in the classroom and will actively participate with ad hoc meetings with nutrition experts. A web portal will be created, a culinary talent show that will see adults challenge each other under the watchful eye of the little judges and a food-themed exhibition signed by the sculptor Giuseppe Carta, who has made his artistic and social commitment to food, set up at one of the prestigious historical institutional buildings of Naples. In May 2022, the Festival of 5 colors will take place in Tropea in Calabria, a five-day event of art, dissemination and music. The University of Calabria and the Italian Society of Psychoanalytic Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy of Childhood (Sipsia) are also partners of the project and the initiative is carried out in collaboration with the Italian Society of Diabetology (SID), the Italian Society of Cardiology (SIC), the Italian Society of Pediatrics (SIP) and with the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital.
The Mediterranean diet
Numerous scientific evidences now clearly indicate that the Mediterranean diet, recognized by Unesco as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2010, represents not only an ideal dietary model for health and well-being, but also a scientifically validated and universally recognized tool for its ability to produce clear benefits in the treatment of numerous pathologies as well as in the reduction of mortality. The Mediterranean diet, rather than being characterized by single foods, is nutritionally balanced, characterized by the frequent intake and in significant quantities of fiber (cereals, legumes, vegetables, fresh and dried fruit), vitamins, and chemical compounds with recognized antioxidant properties, such as flavonoids, phytosterols, terpenes and phenols. Animal proteins mainly come from fish, a precious source of polyunsaturated fatty acids, rather than from meat and milk derivatives, which should be consumed in moderation. Extra virgin olive oil is irreplaceable which, with its high content in oleic acid, polyphenols and monounsaturated fatty acids, has biological antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Numerous scientific evidences attest to how it protects against aging and numerous pathologies with a high socio-economic impact such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and various types of cancer.
4 million deaths each year from being overweight
Some activities of the “Give me 5” project have already started in October 2021 in Campania and Calabria and regions most affected by overweight and obesity, “but eating disorders affect the whole country – adds Maria Teresa Carpino, vice president of the Pancrazio association -. There is a need to inform and promote correct habits at the table. It is important to address both overweight adults and children and their parents. Through fun contents for children and stimulating for adults, we want to convey the importance of what we eat. “The initiative is also aimed at all adults interested in a better lifestyle and with diabetics or pre-diabetics, to which nutrition plays an even more important role. “People with diabetes have doubled in the last 30 years – comments Agostino Consoli, president of the Italian Society of Diabetology -, in 2016 they were over 3 million and 200 thousand. The spread of unhealthy eating habits must be fought through food education, also with practical examples of what is right to eat and what is best to limit. Thanks to the project, patients will be given a book with precise indications, obviously to be respected under the supervision of the specialist doctor. “Recent data have shown that excess pounds are a problem that affects 30% of the world population and causes as many as 4 millions of deaths each year, 40 percent of which in people who were “only” overweight and non-obese. Deaths mainly due to cardiovascular diseases: «Many heart diseases are also caused by an incorrect diet – concludes Ciro Indolfi, president of the Italian Society of Cardiology -. Obesity increases the risk of heart attack, as does high cholesterol. We must remember that primary prevention often passes from the table and that food is not a secondary element of health ».
January 4, 2022 (change January 4, 2022 | 21:18)
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