In Italy, 32.5% of the population, about 20 million people, are sedentary. One citizen out of three (the percentage is even higher in women) does not practice any physical activity and as many as 27% of adolescents between 3 and 17 years of age are sedentary. Dramatic numbers that impose the need to promote more sports and consequently the health of society. This is the goal set by the Federation of Oncologists, Cardiologists and Hematologists (Foce) and the Italian Basketball Federation (Fip) with the launch of a structured collaboration, presented in Livorno on the occasion of the Italy-Ukraine basketball match, valid for the 2023 World Cup Qualification.
“Cancer, hematological and cardiovascular diseases affect in total more than one-sixth of the population,” says Francesco Cognetti, president of Foce, “new cases of solid tumors per year are more than 390 thousand while those of the blood about 35 thousand. Heart disease is also the leading cause of death in our country. These are potentially preventable diseases through healthy lifestyles. Among these, sport plays a key role: hundreds of scientific studies, national and international, have highlighted its undoubted benefits. To ensure protection against serious diseases, however, it must be practiced continuously and started from a young age. This is what we want to teach citizens who seem to underestimate these benefits.”
“As Foce, in recent weeks we signed with CONI a Memorandum of Understanding to launch projects to raise awareness and information on the prevention of cancer and other diseases,” adds Francesco Cognetti, “now we seal, with great pleasure, a strong agreement with one of the most prestigious and important Italian Sports Federations.
“We are pleased to collaborate with the medical specialists represented by Foce, for a great initiative that aims to strengthen a winning combination such as sport and health,” stresses Giovanni Petrucci, president of Fip. “Our Federation has more than 300,000 card-carrying members and therefore directly and indirectly involves millions of families. As Istat’s official data show, the pandemic and Covid-19 have also had detrimental effects in terms of continued sports practice. Between 2020 and 2021, it results in a decline of as much as 15 percent among all under-17s. Therefore, we want to make our contribution to revitalize physical activity across the board.”