Epidemiological aspects and social importance of obesity. The situation in Italy compared with other developed countries.

Epidemiological aspects of obesity have been the object of few studies in Italy, and the results of these are reviewed and compared with those obtained in other developed countries. The prevalence of obesity has been investigated in pre-school and school-age children, in young conscripts and in workers at the Riuniti Hospital in Parma, and the results show that the problem of obesity in Italy is a serious one. More than 2000 obese subjects, attending the First Medical Clinic of Parma University, have been studied to establish how far overweight is responsible for pathological and disabling complications. Obesity was implicated as a major contributing factor in diabeties, atherosclerosis, hypertension, arthritis and many other disabling diseases. The social aspects of the problems of obesity are discussed, together with possible preventive and curative measures.