Cross-sectional Italian survey finds mixed health behaviours among people aged 0–29 with foreign-citizen parents

A cross-sectional analysis of Italy’s Daily Life Aspects surveys found that people aged 0–29 with at least one foreign-citizen parent had higher adjusted odds of overweight or obesity and sedentary lifestyle than peers with Italian-citizen parents, but lower adjusted odds of at-risk alcohol use and smoking. The study found no statistically significant difference in self-rated health and no clear difference in fruit and vegetable consumption. These findings describe an association with parental citizenship status rather than a causal effect.

The study analysed data from the nationally representative Daily Life Aspects cross-sectional surveys conducted in Italy from 2015 through 2022. Its population comprised 84,797 participants aged 0–29: 77,097 with both parents holding Italian citizenship and 7,700 with at least one foreign-citizen parent. The researchers used multivariable logistic regression models with household-clustered standard errors to estimate adjusted odds ratios for six outcomes: non-good self-rated health, overweight or obesity, sedentary lifestyle, low fruit and vegetable consumption, at-risk alcohol use and smoking. The models adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, household and contextual factors.

After adjustment, participants with at least one foreign-citizen parent had 15% higher odds of overweight or obesity, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.15 and a 95% confidence interval of 1.07–1.24. They also had 73% higher odds of a sedentary lifestyle, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.73 and a 95% confidence interval of 1.59–1.87. The lower odds of substance use were also statistically significant: the adjusted odds ratio was 0.66, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.58–0.75, for at-risk alcohol use and 0.85, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.76–0.95, for smoking. By contrast, the adjusted odds ratio for non-good self-rated health was 1.05, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.93–1.18, indicating no statistically significant group difference. The available abstract did not provide an estimate for low fruit and vegetable consumption and described only no clear difference for that measure.

Because the analysis was cross-sectional, it cannot establish whether parental citizenship or another factor caused the observed differences. The supplied abstract also does not detail the measurement tools, response rates, missing-data procedures or survey-year-specific estimates, and it does not report whether associations differed by age group or parental country of origin. It likewise does not clarify whether having one foreign-citizen parent differed from having two. Based on the abstract, the overall pattern was mixed: higher odds of physical inactivity and excess weight accompanied lower odds of smoking and at-risk alcohol use, while self-rated health and fruit and vegetable consumption did not clearly differ between the groups. The authors identify longitudinal research on acculturation and parental country of origin as a priority for understanding these observed associations.

Subject of Research: Cross-sectional comparison of self-rated health and lifestyle behaviours among Italian survey participants aged 0–29 with and without foreign-citizen parents

Article Title: Self-rated health and lifestyle behaviours differences in second-generation migrants and Italians: an analysis of the daily life aspects surveys in Italy, 2015–2022

Article References: Siena, L. M., Sciurti, A., Di Napoli, A., Napoli, C., De Vito, C., Baccolini, V., & Petrelli, A. (2026). Self-rated health and lifestyle behaviours differences in second-generation migrants and Italians: an analysis of the daily life aspects surveys in Italy, 2015–2022. BMC Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-29837-1

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-026-29837-1

Keywords: second-generation migrants, Italy, cross-sectional survey, self-rated health, overweight and obesity, sedentary lifestyle, alcohol use, smoking, fruit and vegetable consumption, health inequalities, Self-rated, health