Obesity is a global question, which concerns all of us, none excluded. Yes, even the people who do not have to fight daily with the scale (technically defined as “normopesus”) and also those who have only a little bacon, vulgarly called “fake lean”.
The alarm launched, among others, the experts of the National Cancer Institute of Milan which, on the occasion of the World Day of Obesity – which is celebrated on March 4 on all continents – attract attention to a crucial and too often underestimated aspect: the excess of fat not only concerns those who are overweight and represents an important risk factor in the development of tumors.
The numbers: an epidemic also in Italy
The alert is planetary: according to Iqvia Italia (world leader in the analysis of health and pharmaceutical data), The prevalence of obesity in the world should increase from 16% of the population of 2022 to 25% (one in 4 adults) by 2035involving almost 2 billion people.
We do not always think of the United States only, our country also begins to bring out disturbing data on the dissemination of obesity: In Italy, in fact, 4 out of 10 adults weigh too much (3 out of 10 are overweight and one is obese). The data emerges from the “Passi” study of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (2023), which monitors the main risk factors for chronic-degenerative diseases and concerns Italians between 18 and 69 years old.
The study also specifies that overweight is more widespread among men (52%) than women (34%), among people with economic difficulties (52%) compared to those who do not have (39%) and among those who have a low level of education (63%) compared to graduates (32%). Among the regions the situation is more critical in the Southwhere the highest percentages are in Molise and Campania.
High risk children
The picture is no longer encouraging if we talk about children: Italy is in second place in Europe for overweight and obese boys and girls in the age group 7-9 years (37%).
According to the national surveillance study “Eye to health” in our country 19% are overweight and 10% obese. Also in this case the South holds the negative primacy, with Campania touches 44% of prevalence of weight excess.
“It is important to keep obese or overweight children under control”, says Danilo Finini, of the Endocrinology and Diabetology operating unit of the Bambino Gesù hospital in Rome “because they have a greater risk of developing chronic adults. Dealing with the problem early allows to prevent complications and encourage healthy growth». Only in the last year there were more than 1,300 children followed by the Roman hospital for weight problems.
We do not underestimate the “bacon”
The problem is not only the pounds too much but rather the distribution of the fat itself in the body. “There are apparently normal people, but with an excessive concentration of visceral fat (the so -called “bacon”), the most dangerous for health», Sabina declares Sieri, director of the complex structure of epidemiology and prevention of the National Cancer Institute of Milan.
“This condition compromises the metabolic health of these people, who present the same risk factors usually found in obesity, including insulin resistance, hyperglycaemia, dyslipidemia and hypertension”.
So the point is: the protruding abdomen is not just a matter of aesthetic. Indeed, it is mainly a health problem. By visceral fat we mean both visible (the much annoying “bacon”) and the invisible one, which deposits around the internal organs of the abdominal cavity: stomach, liver, intestine and heart. It produces long -lasting inflammatory substances, significantly increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
A sort of hidden obesity “associated with an increased onset of cardiometabolic diseases and tumors, bringing these subjects closer to the risk levels of those who are clinically obese”, explains Dr. Sieri.
Let’s take the measures
They no longer count only the kilos on the scale but also the centimeters. Experts refer to Two types of measurement: the BMI (Body Mass Index, in Italian body mass index) And the waist.
For the first one serves a simple operation: the weight (in kilos) by the square height (expressed in meters) is divided. Based on the criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO), if the value is less than 18, it has underweight, if it is between 18.5 and 25 it has been normal, if it goes from 25 to 30 it has overweight, while over 30 we speak of obesity. This indicator has a limit: it does not provide information on body composition (fat mass, lean mass, hydration level) and this, as we have seen, is not a small detail.
To measure the waist, one meter of seamstress is enough: let’s place it at the height of the navel (halfway between the upper part of the hip bone and the lower one of the lower rib). According to the European Code against Cancer (WHO), a waisting is considered to be high risk that exceeds 102 centimeters in men and 88 in women. The recommended measure is 94 and 80 respectively.
We rediscover the “real” Mediterranean diet
But how is it possible – one wonders – precisely in our country, home of the Mediterranean diet? The main cause is to be found in lifestyle.
First of all sedentary lifestyle: Poor physical activity, movements on foot or by bikes equal to zero, “toxic” dependence on digital devices, are all habits that only promote weight gain.
And then there is what we eat: In our dish too often ultra -prompt, hypercaloric foods end, rich in additives, poor in healthy fiber and nutrients, which have as its main effect the increase in weight.
“What should be rediscovered is The deepest meaning of the Mediterranean diet», Comments Annamaria Colao, ordinary professor of endocrinology and metabolism diseases at the Federico II University and director of the integrated Endocrinology, Diabetology, Andrology and Nutrition Department at the Polyclinic University Company Federico II of Naples. «Not only as a nutritional program-which favors fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, milk-casear products, whole grains and extra virgin olive oil-but as a lifestyle that enhances sustainability (considering the seasonality of consumption) and socialityre -evaluating meals sharing as a fundamental ingredient of the diet itself. All things that we should teach to the new generations, precisely to prevent the obese of the future “.
The link with tumors
Another alarm bell comes from the Epic (European Prospective Investigation Into and Nutrition) studio, a European investigation that for decades has observed half a million people to analyze the associations between nutrition and diseases. The results confirm The link between obesity and development of tumors, including colon, prostate, endometrium and pancreas. “Obesity also compromises the oncological prognosis”, adds Filippo De Braud, director of the Department and the Medical Oncology Division of the National Cancer Institute of Milan “damaging the functionality of the organs and increasing the toxicity of therapies”.
