[Infants with and without "vivacità". Crying can be apprehended quite differently in different cultures]

The incidence of infantile colic seems to be diminishing, but 10 per cent of infants are still affected. Several different conditions loom under the umbrella of infantile colic--the most serious of which implies a disturbed parent-infant relationship. The interpretation of infant behaviour is dependent on the cultural context, and thus a "difficult" infant can be apprehended as full of "vivacità"--"liveliness". Some of the recent research focuses on aetiology in the CNS rather than in the gastrointestinal tract. Interventional studies on a population level are required in order to clarify to what extent the elimination of cow's milk protein is a cure for infantile colic. The advice given, for instance at well-baby clinics, to parents with crying infants varies, and should be evaluated systematically.