In recent years obesity figures have skyrocketed in the canary archipelago. Apparently tourism and migration from rural areas to large cities have influenced the nutritional transition that the Canary Islands have experienced.
In fact (and today) This Autonomous Community is the first in terms of childhood and youth obesity rates, and the second in the adult population, according to the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (SEEDO). To make these statements, the specialists of the SEEDO, are based on the results of the ENKIND study (prevalence of overweight and obesity, 1998/2000), health surveys (2006/2009), the ENRICA study (on prevalence of abdominal obesity, 2008/2010), and the national Aladdin study (which evaluated 7923 children between six and nine years old in 2011).
In all investigations, the figures for the Canary Islands turn out to be higher compared to the rest of the autonomous communities.
The Health Survey also records that in the Canary Islands there is a much higher prevalence of obesity in women than in men compared to that existing at the national level
It's known that Obesity has important repercussions on health, both in the short and long term, and maintains a close relationship with cardiovascular risk factors, which explains why three out of every ten deaths in the Canary Islands occur due to a cardiovascular disease resulting in many occasions from excess weight.
In search of solutions
From the Ministry of Canary Health, and through the General Directorate of Public Health, a nutrition education project called DELTA was launched at the end of 2005, and at the same time the participation in PERSEO was promoted. Both initiatives are aimed at promoting healthy eating and physical activity from the first years of life.
But in addition the Government of the archipelago has activated a global strategy to curb excess weight on the islands. We talked about the combined action of the Program for the Prevention of Childhood Obesity (PIPO) and the Childhood Obesity Approach Protocol)
The PIPO Program Guides
The PIPO Program consists of a pediatric feeding guide with nutritional and physical activity guidelines up to 18 years and a healthy menu from 4 to 18 years old.. The Canary Islands Pediatric Societies have joined forces to prepare these 2 documents, which claim to be an information tool on healthy eating while serving for the early intervention of overweight and obesity problems. They are aimed at health professionals, families, schoolchildren and adolescents and teachers, the latter as support material in their school interventions.
Guidelines to combat excess weight
The Childhood and Youth Obesity Approach Protocol seeks to provide guidelines and criteria based on scientific evidence to combat excess weight in childhood and adolescence since Prevention, Early Diagnosis and treatment.
This will be applied in all the Islands, from the Pediatric Care Units and as part of the Child Health Program.
More fruits and vegetables in schools
The Canary archipelago is in turn one of the places in Spain with the lowest rates in terms of consumption of vegetables and fresh fruit in homes refers. This determined that the Canary Islands Government decided to activate the third edition of the Fruit Consumption Plan in the Schools.
An initiative in which 270 public schools of Infant and Primary Education of the Islands participated with the objective of promoting the intake of fruits and vegetables among the youngest and be able to reduce child overweight rates through food.
It aims to raise awareness among schoolchildren between three and 10 years, and involve families and teachers in good habits. The action triples in this edition the number of beneficiary children, and contemplates the distribution of seasonal fruit, and banana from the Canary Islands to schoolchildren.
Undoubtedly, joint interventions can offer better results in the face of a serious health problem that is increasing.
Images | Zebest, PIPO Via Program | SEEDO More information | PIPO Program In Peques and More | Successful campaign against childhood obesity in Navarra with Play, eat and have fun with Tranqui, A study on childhood obesity alarms about the appearance of this problem at an early age: from three to five years, Childhood is the decisive moment to consolidate good practices nutritional
