Obesity is a chronic disease: with the bill these days under discussion in Parliament, Italy could become the first country in the world to establish this recognition, which translates (also) into essential levels of assistance provided by the National Health Service and in a national program for the prevention and care of the pathology
Obesity chronic disease: with the bill (presented on December 28, 2022) AC741_A and ABB. ‘Provisions for the recognition of obesity such as chronic disease and prevention, contrast and care strategies of the patient‘Italy aims to become the first country in the world to establish this recognition.
If the law, under discussion in these days in the Chamber of Deputies, will be definitively approved, patients will take advantage of the services contained in the Essential levels of assistance provided by National Health Service (SSN) and National Program for the prevention and care of the pathology will be established.
What is obesity
As explained by our Higher Institute of Health (ISS)theobesity it is defined as a excessive accumulation of body fat In relation to the lean mass, in terms of both absolute quantities and distribution in precise points of the body.
This index must exceed a certain threshold so that the person can be called obese: in particular, the classification of the population based on the weight is made using the body mass index (according to the American definition BMI = Body Mass Index = weight (in kg)/square of height (in meters), considered the most representative of the presence of excess body fat.
The weight classes for adults indicated by the BMI are:
Many studies agree that obesity increases the risk of many non -transmissible diseasesincluding tumors, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 mellitus diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. And not only that: the condition increases the risk of social isolationwhich in turn increases the risk of premature death for all causes.
How widespread obesity is
From the 2022 relationship of WHO EUROPE, it emerges as the 59% of European adults and almost 1 in 3 children (29% of males and 27% of females) are overweight or is affected by obesity.
Overweight and obesity are in fact Among the main causes of death and disability In the European region of the WHO – writes the ISS – and recent estimates suggest that they cause more than 1.2 million deaths per year, corresponding to over 13% of total mortality in the region
In general over a billion people in the world are obese. A new study reports how, at 2022, More than 1 billion people lived with obesity and that worldwide, obesity among adults is more than doubled since 1990 and is quadrupled among children and adolescents (from 5 to 19 years of age).
What the Italian law aims to
As can be read on the website of the Chamber of Deputies, the provision is made up of 6 articles which aim among other things to:
Voting in the next few days are awaited.
