Konstantinos Christopoulos (p), Christina Christou, Konstantinos Eleftheriou, Christis Hassapis

Konstantinos Eleftheriou

This article presents a novel ecological dietary index, the Ecological Eating Quality Index (EEQI). This index measures a country’s dietary quality in a yearly frequency. It comprises of ten food items for which weighted scores are assigned. Associations be- tween the EEQI and health outcomes for a panel of developed countries were studied to further validate the instrument. Applications and limitations are discussed.

Lisa Sella (p), Nicola Pollo, Valentina Lamonica

Konstantinos Christopoulos

A sedentary lifestyle is very common especially in the elderly population of industrialized countries. Medical studies highlight the relationship between increased sedentary lifestyle and diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Furthermore, they detect the importance of physical activity to prevent vascular and metabolic diseases. Knowledge on the effects of sedentary lifestyle have pushed European healthcare systems to experiment with specific physical activity interventions for elderly people, in order to support active ageing, and to reduce the pressure of this specific population on the national healthcare system. In fact, active healthy ageing becomes a fundamental goal in order both to improve the quality of life and to save health care costs through the promotion of positive experiences, awareness, and empowerment in population.
The study presented here is an experiment conducted in collaboration with the local health authority (LHA) of a specific area of the Piedmont region (Italy), in order to test the effectiveness of a physical activity program to support active ageing. The study evaluates the impact of a protocol of anaerobic exercises to be carried out in groups, specifically designed for elderly subjects suffering from chronic diseases and aimed at modifying their lifestyle for the prevention of disability. The research project has a twofold objective: to analyse the socio-psychological and physical benefits of the protocol, and to develop a cost-benefit analysis. The research focuses on three main indicators connected to states of sedentary lifestyle: the use of pharmacological prescriptions (e.g. anti-inflammatory drugs, gastroprotectors, etc); the use of medical-health services (e.g. physiatric visits, physiotherapy services, etc.); and psycho-physical wellbeing. The final aim of the study is to provide strategic information for planning activities to promote active ageing in the LHA and to extend the recommendation of the protocol to the regional authority.
Methodologically, the experiment is conducted on 120 sedentary people, aged 64 or more, and with chronic conditions affecting the musculoskeletal system in a non-acute phase. They were randomly divided into a treated and a control group: the treated attend free physical activity for 9 months (a full sports year), the control group is involved in a training on healthy lifestyles. Since the project is still ongoing, the contribution will focus on the research design, the qualitative-quantitative strategy for data collection, and the preliminary results. In the end, we expect to find a significant impact on both the physical and the social well-being of the treated units.

Konstantinos Christopoulos, Konstantinos Eleftheriou (p), Peter Nijkamp

Lisa Sella

Firearm homicides present a dire situation in the US, with quite some variation among US states. The space-time pattern of firearm homicide rates is not stable. This study aims to explore convergence patterns of firearm homicide rates across US states over the period 1999 to 2020, with a particular view to the identification of background factors of this space-time trajectory. Several socioeconomic and gun-related factors are selected and examined as potential drivers. Results point to two convergent clubs of US states. Gun ownership, violent crime rates, social capital, and poverty appear to be significant predictors of club membership in case of firearm homicides.