Rome – Three days to “Make culture about celiac disease”

Three days for “making culture about celiac disease“, in Rome, organized by theLatium Celiac Association (AIC Lazio Onlus) in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism of Rome – Capitoline Superintendence of Cultural Heritage e Zètema Progetto Cultura.

Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17, from 10 a.m.00 to 4 p.m.00 al Pietro Canonica Museum of Villa Borghese (Viale Pietro Canonica 2 – Piazza di Siena) the Association will be present with a booth where you can get all the information about celiac disease and consultations with nutritionist doctors, accompanied by strictly glutenfree tastings.

Friday, May 22, from 10 a.m.00 to 16.00, the booth will be set up at the Museum of Rome in Trastevere (Piazza Sant’Egidio 1/b).

These appointments take place in the National Celiac Disease Week, an initiative conceived by the Italian Celiac Association (AIC) involving all Italian regional AICs for a major information and awareness campaign aimed at the general public, included in the context of the Universal Exposition whose theme is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. Expo 2015 is an important opportunity for the Association to introduce the topic of celiac disease into global thinking about food. In fact, it is estimated that by 2050 the Earth will be inhabited by 9 billion people, who will need to feed themselves while respecting the delicate balance of the Planet that hosts them. But 1 percent of the world’s population will have to eat gluten-free. It is as much as 90.000.000 people, a figure calculated by taking into consideration the prevalence of celiac disease in Italy and the World.

“In Italy, according to Ministry of Health data presented in December in the Report to Parliament on Celiac Disease, there are about 164.000 celiacs, 15.000 more than last year. In Lazio in 2013 there were 971 new diagnoses for a total of 16.000 diagnosed – stresses Paola Fagioli, president of AIC Lazio – and only In Rome, diagnoses of celiac disease are more than 8.000, not to mention the undiagnosed, about 9 out of 10. Hence – Paola Fagioli concludes – The need to organize an information and awareness event on a national scale, aimed on the one hand at facilitating early diagnosis and on the other hand at increasingly improving the quality of life of people with celiac disease. Combining art and culture, it was inevitable for us who are in Rome, a city that welcomes millions of tourists from all over the world every year. Making culture about celiac disease and a proper and tasty gluten-free diet seemed like a way to communicate with them as well.”

On Thursday, May 21, AIC Lazio is also organizing a conference in Ladispoli in collaboration with Assobalneari aimed at improving the reception of celiacs on the beach during the summer season.