BMJ Open (Nov 2022)

National, longitudinal NASCITA birth cohort study to investigate the health of Italian children and potential influencing factors

  • ,
  • Antonio Clavenna,
  • Massimo Cartabia,
  • Maurizio Bonati,
  • Federico Marchetti,
  • Giorgio Tamburlini,
  • Antonio Addis,
  • Michele Valente,
  • Rita Campi,
  • Stefania Manetti,
  • Valeria Carraro,
  • Chiara Pandolfini,
  • Sergio Conti Nibali,
  • Renato Sansone,
  • Patrizia Rogari,
  • Annalisa Campomori,
  • Luca De Fiore,
  • Renata Bortolus,
  • Sergio Cattani,
  • Cristiana Piloni,
  • Valeria Renzetti,
  • Chiara Segré,
  • Rosario Cavallo,
  • Gherardo Rapisardi,
  • Giacomo Toffol,
  • Vicenza Briscioli,
  • Carla Cafaro,
  • Cristoforo Cocchiara,
  • Isodiana Crupi,
  • Patrizia Del Balzo,
  • Laura Dell’edera,
  • Chiara Di Francesco,
  • Alberto Ferrando,
  • Francesca Grassa,
  • Chiara Guidoni,
  • Claudio Mangialavori,
  • Stefano Marinoni,
  • Francesca Marongiu,
  • Fausta Matera,
  • Paolo Moretti,
  • Laura Olimpi,
  • Angela Pasinato,
  • Ilaria Porro,
  • Ippolita Roncoroni,
  • Raffaella Schiro’,
  • Patrizia Seppia,
  • Federica Zanetto,
  • Anna Aloisio,
  • Elisabetta Anedda,
  • Giuliana Apuzzo,
  • Giovanna Argo,
  • Anna Armenio,
  • Emanuela Ballerini,
  • Monica Benedetti,
  • Daniela Bertoli,
  • Stefano Bollettini,
  • Chiara Bottalico,
  • Aurora Bottiglieri,
  • Vincenza Briscioli,
  • Antonella Bruno,
  • Laura Brusadin,
  • Mariantonietta Caiazzo,
  • Patrizia Calamita,
  • Miriana Callegari,
  • Rosaria Cambria,
  • Rossella Claudia Cannavò,
  • Maria Cristina Cantù,
  • Domenico Capomolla,
  • Anna Caracciolo,
  • Maria Concetta Carbone,
  • Gaetano Carrassi,
  • Maria Laura Cartiglia,
  • Sara Casagranda,
  • Ornella Castiglione,
  • Rosario Salvatore Cavallo,
  • Teresa Cazzato,
  • Maria Angela Cazzuffi,
  • Melania MariaGiuseppina Cera,
  • Jennifer Chiarolanza,
  • Rosaria China,
  • Nicoletta Cimadamore,
  • Roberto Cionini,
  • Cristina Ciuffo,
  • Damiano Colazzo,
  • Anna Maria Costantini,
  • Claudio Cravidi,
  • Marialuisa Criscione,
  • Rita D’Agostino,
  • Daniela Danieli,
  • Luigi De Carlo,
  • Marina De Sanctis,
  • Giuseppina De Santes,
  • Gian Piero Del Bono,
  • Maria Elisabetta Di Pietro,
  • Maria Chiara Dini,
  • Paolo Fiammengo,
  • Micaela Foco,
  • Maria Teresa Fonte,
  • Maria Frigeri,
  • Andrea Galvagno,
  • Matteo Gaudino,
  • Stefania Genoni,
  • Silvia Girotto,
  • Emma MariaLetizia Giugnini,
  • Gianluca Gornati,
  • Marta Gozzi,
  • Enrica Heritier,
  • Antonella Lavagetto,
  • Raffaele Limauro,
  • Alessandra Magnelli,
  • Maria Gabriella Maiolino,
  • Monica Malventano,
  • Silvia Marchi,
  • Natale Maresca,
  • Federico Marolla,
  • Agata Martinelli,
  • Chiara Martinez,
  • Nicoletta Mascarello,
  • Carla Matiotti,
  • Elisabetta Mazzucchi,
  • Donatella Moggia,
  • Manuela Musetti,
  • Paolo Nardini,
  • Alberto Neri,
  • Patrizia Neri,
  • Flavia Nicoloso,
  • Laura Maria Olimpi,
  • Giancarlo Ottonello,
  • Giacinta Padula,
  • Paolo Maria Paganuzzi,
  • Rosanna Palazzi,
  • Alessandra Palmero,
  • Maria Chiara Parisini,
  • Giovannina Pastorelli,
  • Marilena Pavoni,
  • Lucia Peccarisi,
  • Antonella Pellacani,
  • Cristina Perrera,
  • Michela Picciotti,
  • Ivo Picotto,
  • Tiziana Piunti,
  • Francesca Preziosi,
  • Giuseppe Primavera,
  • Miriam Prodi,
  • Maria Letizia Rabbone,
  • Innocenza Rafele,
  • Laura Reali,
  • Franziska Stefanie Rempp,
  • Ada Riundi,
  • Paolo Rosas,
  • Annarita Russo,
  • Mariagrazia Saccà,
  • Elisabetta Sala,
  • Francesca Sala,
  • Francesca Santus,
  • Vittoria Sarno,
  • Alessandra Savino,
  • Raffaella Schirò,
  • Giuseppa Scornavacca,
  • Giovanni GiulianoSemprini,
  • Maria Francesca Siracusano,
  • Adelisa Spalla,
  • Gloria Sturaro,
  • Maria Grazia Toma,
  • Ettore Tomagra,
  • Maria Tortorella,
  • Fausta Trentadue,
  • Marina Trevisan,
  • Silvia Tulisso,
  • Roberta Usella,
  • Anna Valente,
  • Mariangela Valera,
  • Edda Vernile,
  • Valeria Vicario,
  • Lucia Vignutelli,
  • Paolo Vinci,
  • Lucia Vizziello,
  • Rosette Zand,
  • Marco Zanette,
  • Graziano Zucchi,
  • Maria Luisa Zuccolo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063394
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 11

Abstract

Read online

Purpose The NASCITA Study, a national-level, population-based, prospective cohort study, was set up to better understand the early health status of Italian children, comprising their physical, cognitive and psychological development, and how it is affected by social and health determinants, including nurturing care. NASCITA will also assess geographical differences and disparities in healthcare.Participants Participating family paediatricians from throughout Italy enrolled infants born during the enrolment period (April 2019–July 2020). The 5054 newborns seen by the 139 paediatricians for at least two visits, including the first well-child visit, and for whom parental consent was given, make up the baseline population.Findings to date Mothers had a mean age at delivery of 33.0 years and tended to have a high or medium level of education (42.5% university and 41.7% high school degrees) and to be employed (69.7%). One-third (36.1%) took folic acid supplementation appropriately, and 6.5% smoked or consumed alcohol (10.0%) during pregnancy. One-third (31.7%) of deliveries were caesarean deliveries. Concerning the newborns, 5.8% had a low birth weight and 6.2% were born prematurely. The majority (87.7%) slept in the supine position, and 63.6% were exclusively breast fed at 1 month, with a decreasing north to south prevalence (χ2t 52; p<0.001). Significant north–south differences were found in all areas, including parental education, behaviours in pregnancy and hospital practices. When compared with national level data, the cohort population’s distribution, maternal sociodemographic characteristics and newborn physical characteristics reflect those of the Italian population.Future plans Data will continue to be collected during the well-child visits until the children are 6 years old, and multiple health outcomes will be studied, spanning child development and illness, as well as potentially related factors including caregiving routines. The findings will be used to develop specific interventions to improve children’s health.Trial registration number NCT03894566.