Background

1. TP-WED-240 Cattaneo C.*, De Mei B.*, Perra A.*, Fontana G.**;°, Lamberti A.*;**, Maggio Cavallaro G.*, Possenti V.*, Spinelli A.* *National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome; **University of Milan, Milan; °University of Washington, Washington DC • Methods An informative leaflet for parents and an informative chart for paediatricians have been produced: • the leaflet contains the important results and general advice for the parents, • the chart emphasises the important role of paediatricians as well as presenting the main results. These materials were presented to the regional representatives of OKkio alla SALUTE for a first review. After, they were evaluated with respect to their contents, graphics and development using two questionnaires: one for parents and the other for paediatricians. Communicating the results of the Surveillance System on children’s BMI, eating habits and physical activityto their families and paediatricians • Results • 16 of the 18 Regions participating to OKkio alla SALUTE have evaluated these materials. • Health professionals have delivered questionnaires to 813 parents of children in 49 primary-schools, and 176 paediatricians. • Parents evaluated the leaflet positively, but criticised the language and suggested to: - reduce the number of messages underlining those which are essential - explain better what should be done to improve the overall health and the well-being of their children giving clear messages. • They also recommended to improve the explanations using clear graphics. • Paediatricians suggested that the written part should be more concise, leaving more space for graphs and charts. Background In 2008 the Ministry of Health initiated the national research project PInC -Programme of Information and Communication- which aims to promote awareness and empowerment processes in the population to enable individuals and communities to make informed choices for healthy lifestyles. This contributes to the Italian version of the WHO Programme Gaining Health (the European Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases). Several information and communication activities and initiatives have been planned, considering that for effective communication, it is crucial to translate technical-scientific information into understandable language so that messages are clear, and meaningful for their audience, whose involvement in the production may be very important. The first informative materials were developed for the data collected by the Italian surveillance system named OKkio alla SALUTE. This concerns children’s Body Mass Index (BMI), eating habits and physical activity and is coordinated by the National Centre for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. • Objectives • Because the data, collected on 45,590 children attending primary school, showed a high prevalence of overweight and obesity (36%), bad eating habits and sedentary lifestyles, and low parental perception of the problem, • two target populations were considered: parents and paediatricians. Conclusions To better communicate health risks and information to the public for promoting healthy lifestyles, the opinions and comments of the recipients of informative materials should be used to improve the drafts produced by communication professionals. For more information contact: Barbara De Meibarbara.demei@iss.it +39 6 4990 4272 Both the research projects OKkio alla SALUTE and PInC-Programme of Information and Communication to support the objectives of Gaining Health have been funded by the Ministry of Health / National Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.