Obesity: Young children eat too much bread, pizza, pasta and potatoes

Childhood obesity, a current but still underestimated theme. The latest estimates ofWorld Health Organization they reveal in fact that I am overweight or obese on 30% of children and teenagers on the planet. In Italy the situation is no better: 3 out of 10 children (about 29.8%) overweight and among them 1 is obese (9,4%).

To sound the alarm, on the occasion of the World Obesity Day, the World Day for the Prevention of Obesity and Overweight which is celebrated on March 4, and the Valter Longo Foundation, non-profit organization committed to promoting initiatives and programs aimed at to guarantee everyone, especially disadvantaged people and people in conditions of poverty, one long and healthy life through a Proper nutrition and a style of balanced life.

It was precisely the studies conducted by Valter Longo, internationally renowned biogerontologist and founder of the Onlus, to analyze the principali cause of childhood obesity in Italy (“Longevity starts as a child ”, 2019 Vallardi Publisher). Contrary to what is usually thought, the main suspect would not be “junk food” but an incorrect and unbalanced interpretation of the classic Mediterranean diet and, in particular, a excessive consumption of foods such as bread, pasta, pizza and potatoes.

“In Italy we have a record of childhood obesity similar in all respects to that of America – explains the Doctor Romina Cervigni, Nutritionist and Scientific Director of the Valter Longo Onlus Foundation – yet the phenomenon is not linked to the consumption of junk food and carbonated drinks. The investigations we conducted reveal that an Italian child consumes on average a can of carbonated soft drink per week, on the other hand, however. almost 500 grams per day of foods such as bread, pasta and potatoes and the starch these foods are rich in is absorbed very quickly into our body as sugar. It is therefore good to remember that obesity it can be associated not only with junk foods but also with an immoderate consumption of foods that are in themselves healthy».

The situation also aggravates the poor perception that parents often have of the problem: a “chubby” child is still often considered a healthy child when in reality being overweight can have some important health consequences.

«Excess of children’s fat – explains Doctor Cervigni – predisposes adults to a series of pathologies series like hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, hormonal disorders and respirators. Not only, an obese child is 4 times more at risk of becoming diabetic as an adult. Not to mention the implications psychological, even these often underestimated. Being overweight as a child can indeed lead to develop eating disorders».

Among the main causes of childhood obesity, also the low physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle, a problem made even more acute by the prolonged lockdown and by the limitations to which the little ones have been forced in this last period. “Sedentary lifestyle is a problem that has also affected children, deprived of those activities that go beyond the planned sport but which still involve movement, such as running or cycling – sbends the nutritionist again – According to the latest reports we have, obesity in 2019 was experiencing a small, albeit gradual decrease, but the 2020 data we believe they will reverse this trend and register a worsening».

From all this emerges the need for do prevention, ensuring children a proper food education: to teach from an early age to eat healthily it is indeed crucial to ensure a healthy and long-lived life.

Where to start?

«First of all, it is important to make children understand that there are foods that are inherently healthy but what if eaten excessively, they are not good for you – suggests the doctor – This is true, as we said, for bread, pasta and potatoes, to be replaced with vegetables and legumes that increase the sense of satiety, but also for fruit which, although rich in mineral salts, vitamins and fiber, also contains sugars and therefore should be eaten. but with the right moderation. We always say it: it’s not about eating less. You can eat even more but by learning to do it better. And this is what children also need to know ».

If it is true, however, that the fundamental principle for the correct nutrition of the little ones is to focus on one complete diet, which includes all the nutrients necessary for health, parents often have to contend with the extreme selectivity of some children, as well as with the refusal of certain foods. How to do it then?

Again, beware of false myths: the often used strategy of “disguising” the unwelcome food within another course is not always effective.

“Through our social channels we have proposed a questionnaire addressed to parents – says the nutritionist – asking what solutions they put in place to offer children unwelcome but healthy foods and how effective these strategies have proved over time. Well, the survey showed that, although widespread, the practice of hide unwanted food in a different preparation, it turned out not very effective; on the contrary, a little used strategy that has guaranteed good results according to the parents, is to offer children small quantities of unwanted food, so as to gradually accustom them to accept that food ».

To discover the decalogue of proper nutrition for children and young people provided by the Valter Longo Onlus Foundation, scroll through the gallery above.