Lifestyles and socio-cultural factors among children aged 6–8 years from five Italian towns: the MAPEC_LIFE study cohort

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Alberto Bonetti¹  Silvia Bonizzoni²  Tiziana Grassi³  Gabriele Devoti³  Antonella De Donno³  Francesco Bagordo³  Marcello Guido³  Marco Verani⁴  Annalaura Carducci⁴  Elisabetta Ceretti⁵  Umberto Gelatti⁵  Claudia Zani⁵  Donatella Feretti⁵  Milena Villarini⁶  Tania Salvatori⁶  Massimo Moretti⁶  Elisabetta Carraro⁷  Sara Bonetta⁷  Tiziana Schilirò⁷  Beatrice Casini⁸ 

[1] Centro Servizi Multisettoriale e Tecnologico - CSMT Gestione S.c.a.r.l., Brescia, Italy;Comune di Brescia, Brescia, Italy;Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technology, University of Salento, Via Prov.le Lecce-Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy;Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy;Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy;Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy;Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, Torino, Italy;Department of Translational Research, N.T.M.S., University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy;

关键词: Children;    Lifestyles;    Exposure;    Air pollution;    Questionnaire;    MAPEC_LIFE Study;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-017-4142-x

 received in 2016-07-23, accepted in 2017-02-23,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundLifestyles profoundly determine the quality of an individual’s health and life since his childhood. Many diseases in adulthood are avoidable if health-risk behaviors are identified and improved at an early stage of life. The aim of the present research was to characterize a cohort of children aged 6–8 years selected in order to perform an epidemiological molecular study (the MAPEC_LIFE study), investigate lifestyles of the children that could have effect on their health status, and assess possible association between lifestyles and socio-cultural factors.MethodsA questionnaire composed of 148 questions was administered in two different seasons to parents of children attending 18 primary schools in five Italian cities (Torino, Brescia, Pisa, Perugia and Lecce) to obtain information regarding the criteria for exclusion from the study, demographic, anthropometric and health information on the children, as well as some aspects on their lifestyles and parental characteristics. The results were analyzed in order to assess the frequency of specific conditions among the different seasons and cities and the association between lifestyles and socio-economic factors.ResultsThe final cohort was composed of 1,164 children (50.9 boys, 95.4% born in Italy). Frequency of some factors appeared different in terms of the survey season (physical activity in the open air, the ways of cooking certain foods) and among the various cities (parents’ level of education and rate of employment, sport, traffic near the home, type of heating, exposure to passive smoking, ways of cooking certain foods). Exposure to passive smoking and cooking fumes, obesity, residence in areas with heavy traffic, frequency of outdoor play and consumption of barbecued and fried foods were higher among children living in families with low educational and/or occupational level while children doing sports and consuming toasted bread were more frequent in families with high socio-economic level.ConclusionsThe socio-economic level seems to affect the lifestyles of children enrolled in the study including those that could cause health effects. Many factors are linked to the geographical area and may depend on environmental, cultural and social aspects of the city of residence.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017