PROGETTO DI PREVENZIONE DELL’OBESITà INFANTILE TRA 0 E 6 ANNI “MI VOGLIO BENE”.

Background. The high prevalence of obesity at age 6 suggests the adoption of prevention programmes starting from birth. The main characteristics of a prevention pilot study to be undertaken by Family Paediatricians (FP) are described. Aim. We identified 10 actions, each of them based on published studies. The aim of the project is to verify the effectiveness of their adoption on obesity prevalence at 6 years of age, by means of a randomized controlled intervention study. Methods. 120 FP will follow up a total of 3,600 newborns up to age 6 by means of 10 scheduled health checks. FP will illustrate 10 simple preventive actions in a structured project, 6 of them concerning nutrition (breast feeding up to 6 months, complementary food starting no early than 6 months, controlled protein intake during first 2 years, no caloric drinks, stop bottle use within age 2, and use of colour food photography atlas for correct portion size for pre-school age), 3 of them concerning lifestyle (discourage of inactive transportation, promotion of early physical activity by means of leisure tools, control of sedentary behaviours), and 1 of them about the identification of an early adiposity rebound. The main outcome measure is Body Mass Index at age 6. Control group children will be checked only for auxological parameters. Discussion. The results of this project could offer useful data for the adoption of effective early obesity prevention strategies.