“Sport is a ‘medicine’ that has no contraindications and is good for all ages”. Senator Daniela Sbrollini is convinced of this, first signatory of the bill ‘Provisions containing interventions aimed at introducing physical exercise as a tool for prevention and therapy within the National Health Service’, signed yesterday by all parties in the Senate Health Commission. “In Italy – we read in a note – the cost of physical inactivity is estimated at 1.3 billion euros over the next 30 years. The aim of the bill is to promote physical exercise and allow families to take advantage of tax deductions, recovering part of the investment through the 730. A legislative process is underway that could be revolutionary”.
“The bill I presented – explains Sbrollini – intends to give pediatricians, general practitioners and specialists the possibility of including physical eservice in medical prescriptions, so that families can take advantage of tax deductions. The hope is that, by recovering part of the investment through the 730, people will be encouraged to engage in activities that are positive for their health. The numbers show that physical exercise, despite being a determining factor for the health of individuals, is in fact still too little practiced. Eurobarometer data says that in the European Union 45% of people say they never exercise or play sports and one in three has insufficient levels of physical activity. The consequence is the emergence of millions of cases of non-communicable diseases that worsen people’s health and weigh on the economies of individual countries”.
“The joint WHO and OECD report ‘Step up! Tackling the burden of insufficient physical activity in Europe’ – Sbrollini recalls – highlights that, with an increase in physical activity to 150 minutes a week, 11.5 million new cases of non-communicable diseases would be avoided in Europe by 2050, including 3.8 million cases of cardiovascular disease, 1 million cases of type 2 diabetes, over 400 thousand cases of various cancers. In Italy, the cost of physical inactivity is estimated” precisely “at 1.3 billion euros over the next 30 years. Hence the importance of a legislative initiative that finally allows physical exercise to be prescribed exactly like a drug”.
“A battle, that of supporting the combination of sport and health, which is important to carry forward on multiple fronts – adds Sbrollini – As president of the Parliamentary Intergroup Obesity, Diabetes and Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases, alongside the scientific societies Fesdi, Sid and Amd, I have promoted many initiatives in recent years, including the signing of important memoranda of understanding with Coni and with Sport e Salute, aimed at promoting sporting activity as a correct lifestyle and as a form of prevention for diabetes and obesity, with the involvement of the world of sport”.
“I believe that sport is a tool for investing in the improvement of the country. It is important to carry out a joint effort that allows the recognition of the educational, social and promotion of psychophysical well-being value of sporting activity, placing the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases at the center of the political agenda and legislative action. I thank my colleagues on the Senate Health Commission for their support of this bill, and I hope that with a joint effort the prescription of physical exercise as a drug can soon become a law”, concludes Sbrollini.
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