Seville, (EFE).- 19.7% of the Andalusian population between the ages of 2 and 15 is overweight, and 11.3% suffers from obesity, according to data released this Saturday by the Ministry of Health and Consumption on the occasion of World Obesity Day 2023.
In a statement, the Board recalled that, under the slogan “Changing the perspective: let’s talk about obesity”, this event intends to increase awareness of obesity as a disease, as a global problem this year, changing the way it is addressed in the society.
It also tries to improve policies at the local, regional and national level by creating a healthy environment that promotes health and helps prevent it, as well as fostering the creation of platforms to share experiences in addressing obesity and overweight among Andalusians.
According to the World Obesity Federation, almost one billion people suffered from this disease in 2020, that is, one in seven people, and it is expected that, in 2035, 1.9 billion people worldwide will live with obesity, that is, nearly one in four people.
In Andalusia, the Comprehensive Childhood Obesity Plan of Andalusia (PIOBIN) is being updated, an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Health and Consumption, through the General Directorate of Public Health and Pharmaceutical Regulation.
90% of parents believe that they have normal weight
The objective of this review process, which began in October 2022 and is expected to end throughout 2023, is to draw up a five-year strategic plan that involves all social actors, institutions and citizens, to solve the problem. increase in the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents, which will affect an improvement in their health and quality of life.
Both overweight and obesity are higher in boys than in girls; for every ten children there are three overweight (overweight plus obesity), two overweight and one obese.
The latest data available from the ALADINO Andalucía 2019 Study, carried out among schoolchildren aged 6 to 9, show that the epidemic of excess weight in children and adolescents seems to have stabilized in the last decade, although it still presents higher levels than in Spain as a whole.
From this study it stands out that 90.6% of the parents of overweight schoolchildren consider that their children have a normal weight; in the case of schoolchildren with obesity, 43.3% consider that the weight of their children can be considered normal. EFE