The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle behaviors in children and adolescents: an international overview.

The adverse effects of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are not limited to the related infectious disease. In children and adolescents, serious risks due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are also related to its indirect effects. These include an unbalanced diet with an increased risk of weight excess or nutritional deficiencies, increased sedentary lifestyle, lack of schooling, social isolation, and impaired mental health.Pediatricians should be aware of the side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's diet, physical mental health and advise the families according to their nutritional needs and financial resources. Moreover, the lack of a targeted therapy able to offer protection against the deleterious effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection should require a greater effort by scientific societies to find a more effective prevention strategy. In this context, much interest should be given to nutritional support, able to contrast malnutrition and to stimulate the immune system.

Epidemiology and clinical aspects of Werner's syndrome in North Sardinia: description of a cluster.

Werner syndrome (WS, MIM#277700) is a very rare autosomal recessive disorder. WS clinical signs include altered distribution of subcutaneous fat, juvenile bilateral cataracts, a mask-like face and bird-like nose, trophic ulcers of the feet, diabetes mellitus, and premature atherosclerosis. The habitus is characteristic, with short stature, stocky trunk and slender extremities. WS frequency has been roughly estimated to be 1: 100,000 in Japan and 1: 1,000,000-1: 10,000,000 outside of Japan. The only exception to the latter data can be seen in the clustering of WS in Sardinia. Since 2001, 5 new cases have been observed: 4 members of the same family and 1 sporadic case. Therefore, since 1982 the total number of cases described in North Sardinia amounts to 18: 15 are familial (11 members of the same family group) and 3 sporadic. A short clinical description of the 5 new cases is reported.