Lifestyles and socio-cultural factors among children aged 6-8 years from five Italian towns: The MAPEC-LIFE study cohort

Background: Lifestyles 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. Methods: A 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. Results: The 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. Conclusions: The 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

Accettabilità di elevate velocità dell'aria per il raffrescamento in ambenti caldi

Analisi sperimentale della possibilità di ottenimento del comfort termico in ambienti caldi tramite l'utilizzo di ventilatori. Comparazione degli effetti di diversi modelli di flusso d'aria. Comparazione fra le risposte di campioni di popolazioni different

Evaluation of mutagenic/genotoxic effect of PM0.5 collected in five italian towns in two seasons: results of the MAPEC_LIFE study (LIFE12 ENV/IT/000614)

Particulate Matter (PM) is the atmospheric pollutant that mostly affects human health. One aim of the MAPEC_LIFE study is to evaluate children exposure to urban air pollution investigating the PM0.5 mutagenic and genotoxic effect. The samples were collected in children school areas in two seasons (winter-spring) using a high-volume air sampler. PM0.5 organic extracts were chemically analyzed, assayed on four Salmonella strains by Ames test and on A549 cell line by comet assay and micronucleus test. Results revealed that PM0.5 represents a very variable PM10 percentage (range 19.6-63% and 9.9-55.9% in winter and spring respectively). In winter all PM0.5 extracts showed at least one mutagenic dose with Salmonella TA98 strain suggesting the presence of indirect mutagens, while a lower effect was observed with the TA100 strain. The results with TA98NR and YG1021 strains in both seasons showed the presence of nitroaromatic compounds as confirmed by the chemical analysis. No genotoxic or oxidative effect was observed using the comet assay and micronucleus test in both seasons. The results suggest to investigate the biological effect of the other PM fractions, in particular PM0.5-1

Socio-economic and environmental factors associated with overweight and obesity in children aged 6–8 years living in five Italian cities (The MAPEC_LIFE cohort)

The prevalence of obesity among Italian children has reached such alarming levels as to require detailed studies of the causes of the phenomenon. A cross-sectional study was carried out in order to assess the weight status of 1164 Italian children aged 6–8 years (the Monitoring Air Pollution Effects on Children for Supporting Public Health Policy (MAPEC_LIFE) cohort) and to identify any associations between selected socio-economic and environmental factors and overweight/obesity. The data were obtained by means of a questionnaire given to parents, and any associations were examined by binomial logistic regression analyses. Overweight was found to be positively associated with male gender, parents of non-Italian origin, and parents who smoke, and negatively associated with the parents’ level of education and employment. In addition, the frequency of overweight varied in relation to the geographical area of residence, with a greater prevalence of overweight children in the cities of central-southern Italy. This study highlights the need to implement appropriate obesity prevention programs in Italy, which should include educational measures concerning lifestyle for parents from the earliest stages of their child’s life