Prevalence of Childhood Obesity in Portugal: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The number of childhood obesity cases has been increasing in several countries around the world. In view of all the associated complications at an early stage of child development, it becomes urgent to understand this problem in depth. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> The aim of this work was to describe the prevalence of childhood obesity in Portugal and analyze the trend of its evolution in recent years. <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> This is a narrative review of the literature in the databases on the following platforms: Academic Google, Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), EBSCO Host, and Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS). The keywords used were: Prevalence, Pediatric Obesity, Child Overweight, and Portugal. <b><i>Results and Discussion:</i></b> Data on the prevalence of childhood obesity in Portugal are presented, describing the results of studies conducted at national and district level, in the different age groups and by sex. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The data reveal that the prevalence of overweight in Portugal ranges between 20 and 40%, and of obesity between 10 and 15%, which reinforces the urgent need for monitoring and implementing preventive measures.

Enabling sustainable food transitions in schools: a systemic approach

“…Importantly, as is the case in other Western industrialized societies, Portugal is a highly meat-centric country (Brittin, 2011) and children tend to eat more than the formally recommended levels of animal protein in their diets (Durão et al, 2017). The high consumption of animal products, together with an excessive intake of sugar, are linked to strikingly high levels of child obesity in the country (Durão et al, 2017;Frade et al, 2020). This is also reflected in the typical offer provided in the school meals system, in which the standard practice is to rotate between meat and fish meals every day of the week with little room for plant-based meals.…”

“…The high consumption of animal products, together with an excessive intake of sugar, are linked to strikingly high levels of child obesity in the country (Durão et al. , 2017; Frade et al. , 2020).…”

Effects of a Physical Literacy Breaks (PLBreaks) Program on Physical Literacy and Body Composition in Portuguese Schoolchildren: A Study Protocol

“…Childhood obesity has increased in the last 40 years, making it one of the major problems and challenges for public health in advanced societies [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Focusing on Portuguese population, previous studies showed that the prevalence of overweight in children and adolescents ranges between 20% and 40%, and obesity between 10% and 15% [ 4 ]. Likewise, the Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) report for Portugal in 2019 showed a reverse trend in the prevalence of overweight (from 37.9% to 29.6%) and obesity (from 15.3% to 12.0%) in children aged 6 to 8 years-old [ 5 ].…”

Caracterização dos níveis de atividade física diária, tempo de ecrã, horas de sono e aporte calórico de meninos e meninas em idade pré-escolar – Programa PéAtivo

“…Os baixos níveis de AF das crianças representam uma das principais causas da obesidade, a qual tem repercursões sérias ao nível da saúde. A obesidade é uma das doenças crónicas que tem atingido proporções epidémicas nos países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento (WHO, 2000), sendo Portugal um dos cinco países europeus com maior prevalência de obesidade infantil (Frade, Carteiro, Pereira, Marques, & Frade, 2020;Oliveira et al, 2018). Esta realidade tem impacto negativo ao nível da saúde das crianças, tendo relação com várias comorbilidades como a diabetes do tipo 2, a hipertenção, as dislipidemias e a apneia do sono, levando igualmente a problemas osteoarticulares e psicológicos, incluindo a descriminação, o isolamento social e a baixa auto-estima (Juonala et al, 2011).…”