INEQUITIES ON A REGIONAL BASIS IN ITALY

Key words: Child health, Inequity, Social exclusion, Health determinants, Italy

The second update Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Adolescent analyses the differences across geographical regions with respect to some important health determinants and outcomes in Italy. The Report highlights the marked differences existing in the condition of children living in the South which are due to both distal (poverty and parental educational level) and proximal determinants of health: access to social services such as day care centres is very low in the South, while unhealthy life styles such as poor nutrition and reduced physical activity are more prevalent. These determinants ultimately affect health outcomes such as child mortality rates and obesity prevalence, which are higher in Southern than in Central and Northern Italy, and other social outcomes such as drop out from school, which is unacceptably high in many southern regions. These health and social inequities are concentrated in the poorest population groups, and combine to determine further risk of social exclusion and poor health outcomes in adult age.