Sport as a drug, which can be prescribed by a doctor in a prescription, a service payable in the same way as a Lea or essential level of assistance. The idea is not new: “There is a bill on this, on physical activity as a form of prevention and treatment across multiple pathologies, and a bill specifically aimed at obesity is under discussion, which it also includes physical exercise. But final approval has not yet been reached” and the hope of the medical-scientific world is that we can “accelerate the ongoing legislative process”. The spokesperson for the appeal is Luca Busetto, past president of SIO (Italian Obesity Society) and vice president of Easo (European Society for the Study of Obesity) for the Southern region. “We completely agree on the concept underlying these initiatives and we hope that they will be implemented as soon as possible”, declares the specialist to Adnkronos Salute, on the eve of World Physical Activity Day which occurs on 6 April.
Unlike a simple recommendation to move more to counteract the damage of a sedentary lifestyle that is dangerously widespread even among the very young, a real medical prescription to do sport “would increase their availability – reasons Busetto, Padua University Hospital – with the guarantee of greater equity in access to a practice that is considered one of the pillars of well-being and the general state of health”. In concrete terms, how would the 'physical activity in prescription' option work? “We do not yet know whether there will be reimbursed practices – replies the expert – or whether, for example, there will be a tax deduction for expenses incurred for physical activity if this is included in a medical prescription, for the treatment or prevention of an illness. It is still premature to talk about methods. But giving the citizen, in particular those who for health reasons can benefit from it the most, the possibility of having easier access to physical activity also from an economic point of view – he repeats the specialist – that's definitely a positive thing.”
Physical activity, Busetto clarifies, should be considered a 'drug' not only against extra pounds: “The weight that physical activity has in the prevention and treatment of obesity – specifies the expert – is the same as in the prevention and treatment of all other chronic pathologies. From diabetes to hypertension, from cardiovascular diseases to some forms of cancer”. Encouraging sport in a recipe could represent a 'vaccine' and a medicine with multiple indications. The hope is that it happens quickly.
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