46% of Italian adults obese, 26% of children

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 29 - Some 46% of Italian adults and 26% of children are overweight or obese, according to a new report out Tuesday.
    More than 23 million adults in Italy are overweight or obese and 2.2 million young people between three and 17 years of age, said the fourth Italian Barometer Obesity Report, referring to the year 2021 and compiled by the IBDO Foundation in collaboration with ISTAT, Coresearch and Bhave and with the unconditional help of Novo Nordisk.
    Another concerning fact is that many overweight or obese people think they are of normal weight: 11.1% of obese adults and 54.6% of overweight adults, while 40.3% of parents of such children consider their children normal weight.
    There are gender differences, with 11.1% of women and 12.9% of men obese; and 23.2% of female children and adolescents overweight against 29.2% of their male peers; and also territorial differences with 31.9% of southern youths overweight compared to 18.9% in the northwest, 22.1% in the northeast and 22% in central Italy.
    Those territorial differences are confirmed in adults with an obesity rate that varies from 14% in the south to 12.2$ in the northeast, and 10.5% in the northwest and centre.
    Taking overweight and obesity lightly leads to complications like mental health issues, heart problems, type 2 diabetes, some tumours and skeletal and joint problems, the report said.
    "It is estimated," said IBDO Foundation Vice President and Rome Tor Vergata University medical lecturer Paolo Sbraccia, "that this disease causes 58% of cases of type 2 diabetes, 21% of cases of ischemic heart disease, and up to 42% of certain tumours, as well as around 57,000 annual deaths in our country alone".
    Higher Health Institute President Silvio Brusaferro said obseisyt was behind 10% of Italian deaths annually while the report said it cost Italy some 13.3 billion euros in 2020.
    (ANSA).