The arrival of colder temperatures is not a problem for younger children who, with the right precautions, “must be able to go for walks: it is certainly not a contraindication to let them go out when it is colder outside. It scares me more than the small children are kept for a long time in a closed environment, perhaps with a temperature well above 20 degrees, which is not physiological in the winter period”. Rino Agostiniani, vice-president of the Italian Society of Paediatrics (Sip), explains this to Adnkronos Salute regarding the forecasts of a sharp drop in temperatures.
Therefore the little ones, “well covered for the climate, must absolutely be able to go out into the open air. In this period we do not get sick because we have caught a little cold, but because, in the respiratory forms, some other human being transmits to us the infectious agent. We see that parents often have these fears. 'Cover him otherwise he'll get sick', 'keep him inside the house so he doesn't get cold'. These are phrases we often hear about the child. But that's not how he gets sick. the problem is contagion. So keeping it in closed places for a long time is riskier.”
Agostiniani reminds us that, in any case, “we are a Mediterranean country, we do not have extreme temperatures and the methods with which children must be covered must also be adequate”. The pediatrician's experience, however, highlights that Italian parents – “but especially grandmothers” – tend to cover up a lot. “Sometimes, jokingly, I say to parents: 'but would you go around town dressed as skis?' I say this when I see children completely enclosed in those overalls in which only their eyes can be seen and it is absolutely an excess. In this way – he concludes – an unfavorable situation is created. The child sweats and so instead of protecting him from the cold I put him in the condition of discomfort due to too much heat”.
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