“Obesity is not considered over time as a social problem, but medical,” says the group coordinator and principal investigator of the project is M ª Luz Loureiro Garcia, who notes that due to socio-economic circumstances in many cases habits promote obesity is inherited and “its economic impact is very important.”
The project involved the USC team advances in the regulatory instruments that can be applied to reduce calories and increase physical activity of individuals. The first part is a review of European policies, both public and private, to reduce the epidemic of obesity. The countries that focus are Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Netherlands. The next step is to assess the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of these policies.
The aim is to propose a series of measures aimed at combating the disease. For example, there is currently much discussion about the advertising of foods high in fats and sugars own child’s diet. Thus, in the Nordic countries have chosen to prohibit the advertising slots of the young.
Another example that puts the researcher in the case of Norway, where there is a high tax for chocolate and recently also a sugar tax, which applies to soft drinks and other consumer products by minors such as sausages and sandwiches. Along these lines, researchers are addressing as a solution to the rising price of these products, as happened with the snuff.
Changing consumer habits in Europe
Team members from the University of Santiago are collecting all the public and private initiatives are underway in this area in four countries: nurseries, children’s soccer teams (where in some cases are being developed nutrition education programs and physics), soup kitchens, senior centers … They want to compare the different proposals and an analysis of their effectiveness or how they can become effective if not.
Measurements can be manifold. Thus, as noted by Professor Maria Loureiro, in some school canteens are offered to children or semi-skimmed milk instead of whole milk. On the other hand, recreational games are contemplating the importance of physical activity and idleness, as some game consoles …
The group at the University of Santiago tries to make different from other medical variables to address obesity, as the case of prices, household income, which affects consumption because you opt for frozen or processed, much cheaper fresh produce, consumer behavior or nutrition labeling … All these aspects can be altered to control the disease.
“The ultimate goal of this project is to make a joint proposal by the European Union to combat obesity, have a global vision because it is a global problem in Europe,” says the coordinator. Loureiro notes that obesity affects both the Nordic countries, where the population is historically characterized by its thinness, and south, where the Mediterranean diet raw but cooking takes time and is being supplanted by a faster and caloric content also higher, all bonded to a sedentary lifestyle of modern society itself.
The researcher noted that in southern Europe, in countries like Spain, there are deep-rooted habits, ie there is a strong cultural base about food. “However, without abandoning their usual meals, we are implementing other populations that pose a caloric excess. Hence the importance of interdisciplinary studies, taking into account the new consumption habits, “says the professor of the University of Santiago.
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