The pediatrician: "therapeutic sea for children, from the marine hospices of the 19th century to the Green Flags of today"

The sea is a real cure for children. And its benefits have been known for a long time, as highlighted by Italo Farnetani, professor of pediatrics at the United Campus University of Malta, in a study that compared seaside hospitals - 'marine hospices' dedicated to the care of children, especially in cases of tuberculosis - which exploited its therapeutic effects in the 19th century, with the current 'Green Flags' with which pediatricians indicate the beaches suitable for the little ones. The study was presented during the official ceremony for the delivery of honorary citizenship of San Benedetto del Tronto to Farnetani by the mayor of the city, Antonio Spazzafumo.

The differences between the sea of ​​children of yesterday and the current situation are there, obviously, "because today there are requests for services different from the past, in fact only 65% ​​of the seaside resorts, that is two out of three, that in the nineteenth century had hosted a marine hospice are still considered suitable for children, including San Benedetto del Tronto which was among the first ten in Italy to receive the Green Flag, in 2008, and reconfirmed uninterruptedly until today. In this sense the beach of San Benedetto for 160 years, has been the sea of ​​children, because in the summer of 1865 the marine hospice was opened which was the fifth in Italy, the second in the Adriatic".

The marine hospice, Farnetani recalls, "was a hospital built on the seashore to exploit the therapeutic effects of sun, sand and sea bathing, which represented an effective life-saving treatment because they represented the only effective possibility to cure tuberculosis, which was a fatal disease, and highly disabling rickets. According to the results reported in the clinical reports of the time, the children presented complete remission of the signs of the disease in 47% of cases. However, all showed an improvement, which was clear in 40% of the children, slight or partial in 13%. The results demonstrate the power and effectiveness of the marine cure, scientifically thalassotherapy, which was discovered in Italy and then adopted throughout the world and is an excellence of Italian healthcare at an international level. The marine hospitals were founded in 1842 in Viareggio and only in 1858 did they begin to spread in Italy thanks to the work of a doctor, Giuseppe Barellai, who was cured of tuberculosis thanks to the marine cures he had "experienced".

Thalassotherapy useful against atopic eczema, psoriasis, vitiligo and in the prevention of rickets as well as to combat isolation and a sedentary lifestyle

The hospice of San Benedetto del Tronto, Farnetani says, "was built and financed by the locals, who had joined together in spontaneous committees of citizens of San Benedetto del Tronto, Ascoli Piceno and Fermo. It became a real hospital of the territory where children from the South of Marche and the North of Abruzzo arrived. The stay in the hospice of San Benedetto, like in the others present in Italy, lasted from 20 to 40 days and, during the summer, they were welcomed, divided into two or three shifts, about 150 children, aged between two and eight years. Even today the marine environment is recognized as therapeutic for various diseases such as atopic eczema, psoriasis, vitiligo or preventative, such as rickets and vitamin D deficiency in general. But today life on the beach is particularly useful for promoting other aspects as well, for example promoting interpersonal relationships, fighting isolation and a sedentary lifestyle."

San Benedetto, according to the pediatrician, "has set a precedent in terms of managing the Green Flag for children and families by increasing safety, reception and recreational services. During the eighteen years in which the city has continuously obtained the Green Flag, three municipal administrations with different political backgrounds have alternated, but they have had in common the will and choice to always adapt the services for children and families. The synergy between the municipal administration and business categories involved in the tourism sector means, for example, that today all the businesses involved in the tourism and seaside sector have a changing table for the little ones. The vocation of welcoming children and families is also demonstrated by the fact that one hundred thousand children every year go to the seaside in San Benedetto del Tronto which for them is a source of health and growth, as has been the case for 160 years".