title: [Environmental, social and demographic characteristics of children and adolescents, resident in different Italian areas].
abstract: The second phase of the SIDRIA study provides important information regarding the family characteristics of Italian children (6-7 years old) and adolescents (13-14 years old), and the frequency of risk factors for asthma and allergies, allowing comparisons between study areas according to differences in latitude (North, Centre, South) and urbanization level (metropolitan areas, with at least 500,000 inhabitants, and other areas). Parental education level was higher in metropolitan and central areas. The frequency of children and adolescents born abroad, and the percentage of mothers and fathers employed were higher outside metropolitan areas and there was an increase from the South to the North of Italy. This trend was paralleled by an increase in maternal age at child's birth and in the frequency of low birth weight and day care attendance. The frequency of breastfeeding was greater in children than in adolescents; the opposite was registered for passive smoking, with a frequency of exposure higher in adolescents than in children, especially in the Northern and Central areas, even if the proportion of subjects having at least one parent who smokes was still high in both age groups. The prevalence of overweight children was striking, especially in the South where physical activity was less frequent and children had the unhealthy habit of consuming a lot of snacks and carbonated beverages. Frequency of exposure to traffic in the area of residence was particularly high, especially in the metropolitan areas.
authors.affiliation: CSPO, Firenze.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chellini
authors.forename: Fiorella
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Talassi
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Corbo
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Berti
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Sario
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rusconi
authors.forename: Silvano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Piffer
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Caranci
authors.forename: M Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Petronio
authors.forename: Piersante
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sestini
authors.forename: Valerio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dell'Orco
authors.forename: Enea
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bonci
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Armenio
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: La Grutta
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D004522:Educational Status; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004651:Employment; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008423:Maternal Age; D050177:Overweight; D010290:Parents; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012907:Smoking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data