Connect with us

Medical doctors and Surgeons

Educating children to counter obesity

Published

on

«Unhealthy eating and sedentarity during childhood sadly set up kids to a future of being overweight or obese»

Margherita Gulino, medical doctor and specialist in hygiene and preventive medicine

Obesity is an illness that may have many different causes, from physical to psychological ones, and they often merge to create a complex pathology that is difficult to cure and that has many negative effects on the individual and on society. Margherita Gulino, medical doctor and specialist in hygiene and preventive medicine, is the director of the Prevention Department of the ASL (Local Health Authority) TO5 and director of the Italian Food Standards Agency of Turin, explains how the Italian Health Service is trying to prevent the insurgence of obesity starting from education of children and adults.

Obesity in children and adults: data from the WHO and ASL surveillance

Margherita Gulino, medical doctor and specialist in hygiene and preventive medicine

Obesity is one of the most common pathologies of our century, and it can be found in every social group. «According to WHO data, sadly, in the age group between 5 and 19 there are 50 millions of obese females and 74 millions of obese males» Gulino observes, highlighting the gravity of the situation for up to 124 millions of children who find themselves at risk of chronic and degenerative pathology at such a young age.

To keep the growing number of obesity in check, Italy activated a surveillance system carried out by individual Local Health Authorities. The last study was conducted in 2019, and results were not encouraging: Italy has a high amount of overweight and obese children. «20% of school age children was overweight, and 9% obese.»

These studies were not carried out just to have a snapshot of obesity percentages in the population. «Data was used to plan primary prevention projects on these risk factors to improve the health of children. But this surveillance also sheds some light on the familiar context, as we involve parents too.»

The importance of information: teaching good eating habits to families

Pathologies such as obesity may come from wrong eating habits that were passed on from parents to their children. «Not all of our children have breakfast, and if they do it is often incorrect. Usually they eat snacks that have low nutrients but high calories such as fatty sweets or sweetened drinks.»

This is why the Turin Local Health Authority designed many projects precisely for schools. «We carried out multidisciplinary and synergistic tasks with institutes, town administrations and families to offer education courses» Gulino explains. «Children learn faster than adults, and they carry what they learn with them to their families. If we teach a kid, we reach their parents and grandparents too.»

Each project proposed by the ASL TO5 is aimed at teaching good eating habits, how to read food labels and the value of physical activity. Often, children are better than adults at these tasks. «We created a game where kids are better than adults to find “bad” ingredients in food labels» Gulino says, highlighting the ability of children to acquire life skills that will prove useful during adulthood. 

Overcoming obesity through prevention

In the prevention clinic, Gulino often meets people that are clinically healthy, and works to prevent them from developing eating disorders. The control period lasts a minimum of 6 months and, through a multidisciplinary team, gives people the means to keep their weight in check and to manage their eating choices in complete autonomy. «By acquiring the right information, we give kids and their families a tailor-made plan.»

But the work of the ASL TO5 doesn’t stop at school and individual projects, as it also includes services to the community. For example, it monitors and assesses the food served by the canteens to “delicate groups“ in schools and nursing homes. «We assess whether the menus offered by companies are good, at least on a qualitative and quantitative basis, and we verify if they comply to the essential levels of nutrients; furthermore we verify that structures are safe and provide the declared food» Gulino adds.


To fight the epidemic of obesity, there are solutions that are more effective than drastic ones. Prevention is extremely effective as it stops people from internalising wrong ideas and then allows them to have a headstart on having a healthy life starting from childhood. The work of Gulino and of ASL TO5, both on an individual and community level, is key because correct eating habits are often forgotten by this frenetic society, in favour of fast, caloric food that lacks quality.

Click to comment

Raccontaci la tua esperienza

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Lipedema
Medical doctors and Surgeons6 days ago

Anomalous fat on the legs: it could be lipoedema

blefaroplastica
Medical doctors and Surgeons2 weeks ago

Blepharoplasty: the gaze of youth

ginecomastia
Medical doctors and Surgeons3 weeks ago

Facing Gynecomastia. From psychological discomfort to rebirth

volto gualdi
Medical doctors and Surgeons4 weeks ago

Face and the aesthetic surgery: a conversation with professor Alessandro Gualdi 

Gontero un baffo per la ricerca
Medical doctors and Surgeons1 month ago

A “Moustache” against male cancers

laparoscopica
Medical doctors and Surgeons1 month ago

Laparoscopic surgery: from traditional techniques to robotics

Revée pills1 month ago

Paddling for health: the benefits of rowing for breast cancer operated women

rete oncologica
Medical doctors and Surgeons2 months ago

Rete Oncologica and the manifesto against pain

Revée pills2 months ago

One hundred years of Aerospace Medicine in Italy

infermieri
Associations2 months ago

Oncology nurses in breast care: the evolution of treatment

paziente
Medical doctors and Surgeons2 months ago

Biganzoli, the patient is the centre of therapy

Oncoplastica
Medical doctors and Surgeons2 months ago

Oncoplastic conservative surgery for breast cancer

Day Scar
Revée pills2 months ago

DayScar: the scar treatment protocol enters a mobile app

Ereditarietà
Medical doctors and Surgeons3 months ago

Heredity in breast cancer. How crucial is it? The opinion of the oncologist Nicola Rocco

Medical doctors and Surgeons3 months ago

Calabrese: the importance of radiology in prevention

sciamanna
Associations3 months ago

Sciamanna, the rights for cancer patients in Italy

cataliotti
Medical doctors and Surgeons3 months ago

Senonetwork Italy, Cataliotti and breast cancer

carlucci
Medical doctors and Surgeons3 months ago

Carlucci, correcting the tuberous breast

Seno
Revée pills4 months ago

Breasts

Ereditarietà
Medical doctors and Surgeons3 months ago

Heredity in breast cancer. How crucial is it? The opinion of the oncologist Nicola Rocco

Day Scar
Revée pills2 months ago

DayScar: the scar treatment protocol enters a mobile app

cataliotti
Medical doctors and Surgeons3 months ago

Senonetwork Italy, Cataliotti and breast cancer

sciamanna
Associations3 months ago

Sciamanna, the rights for cancer patients in Italy

infermieri
Associations2 months ago

Oncology nurses in breast care: the evolution of treatment

Medical doctors and Surgeons3 months ago

Calabrese: the importance of radiology in prevention

Oncoplastica
Medical doctors and Surgeons2 months ago

Oncoplastic conservative surgery for breast cancer

paziente
Medical doctors and Surgeons2 months ago

Biganzoli, the patient is the centre of therapy

Revée pills1 month ago

Paddling for health: the benefits of rowing for breast cancer operated women

laparoscopica
Medical doctors and Surgeons1 month ago

Laparoscopic surgery: from traditional techniques to robotics

Gontero un baffo per la ricerca
Medical doctors and Surgeons1 month ago

A “Moustache” against male cancers

rete oncologica
Medical doctors and Surgeons2 months ago

Rete Oncologica and the manifesto against pain

Revée pills2 months ago

One hundred years of Aerospace Medicine in Italy

volto gualdi
Medical doctors and Surgeons4 weeks ago

Face and the aesthetic surgery: a conversation with professor Alessandro Gualdi 

ginecomastia
Medical doctors and Surgeons3 weeks ago

Facing Gynecomastia. From psychological discomfort to rebirth

blefaroplastica
Medical doctors and Surgeons2 weeks ago

Blepharoplasty: the gaze of youth

Lipedema
Medical doctors and Surgeons6 days ago

Anomalous fat on the legs: it could be lipoedema