Italians may be ditching the
smoking habit, but they are also doing less physical activity
and sport which is leading to a growing obesity problem, a
survey by national statistics agency ISTAT showed on Tuesday.
The study found that a combination of laziness and obesity
is a new health risk for 52% of Italians.
The role of families in promoting healthy lifestyles is
critical: 30.2% of young people up to the age of 24 who live
with parents who smoke also smoke themselves, while only 11.9%
of young people who live with non-smoking parents take up the
habit.
A total of 48.4% of young people are sedentary if their
parents are as well (compared to 7.7% of those whose parents are
not sedentary). Similar data can be found for being overweight
and consuming more than moderate intake of alcohol.
On the smoking front, 19.6% of Italians over 14 years of
age say they are smokers, 22.8% say they have smoked in the past
and 56.3% say they have never smoked.
About 15% of women say they smoke compared to 24.6% of men.
On the weight front, 45.1% of the adult population weighs
an excessive amount (35.3% are overweight and 9.8% are obese).
About 51.8% of people are in the normal weight range and 3.0%
are underweight.
A total of 15.7% of the population consume levels of
alcohol which exceed health authority recommendations. Excessive
alcohol consumption rates are higher among over-65s and young
people between the ages of 18-24.
In 2015, 39.9% of the population said they did not practice
any sport or physical activity. The sedentary rate stood at
44.3% for women and 35.1% for men.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
