Obesity Among Teens – Printed Edition

ASSUMPTION, (EFE). The "Global Survey of School Health", conducted for the first time in the country and prepared by the Pan American Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, shows that overweight is more common among teens, whereas only 2% of respondents, between boys and girls, have a weight lower than their age. The high rate of obesity is directly related to the poor eating habits that prevail in Paraguay according to the badysis, which confirmed a low consumption of fruits and vegetables and, at the same time, a high consumption of soft drinks and fast foods. Specifically, 41% of students said that they eat fruit 2 or more times a day, although 25% consume vegetables with the same frequency and only 7.8% of women and 7.3% of men Eat vegetables and fruits five or more times each day (the recommended minimum). In addition, 12.1% reported that they added salt to their food once they had served it and 18% said they ate too much salt, women consuming the most. In contrast, 60.1% of teens reported taking soft drinks one or more times a day, especially men, while 15% admitted to having been to fast food restaurants during the 7 days of the week. Nearly half of the respondents (46.7%) tried alcohol before the age of 14 and 35% consumed it in the last month. Of these, the majority (83%) started drinking alcoholic beverages when they were in grade 8 (13-14 years) and one-third (33.2%) pbaded them through a friend, since Sale of alcohol to minors is prohibited in Paraguay. The Paraguayan Minister of Health, Carlos Morínigo, warned that the results of the survey warn against "the emergence of potential diabetic, hypertensive, with heart failure, dialysis". This is in reference to data indicating a high prevalence of hypertension (6.3%) and diabetes (7.7%) among students, whereas, according to the international bibliography, the prevalence of these pathologies in school age It should be 0.1% in the worst case.

Education on Healthy Habits

Morinigo suggested that the solution lies in an education that encourages healthy habits in every way, since the study also reveals a deficit in sports practices and d & # 39; hygiene. The survey was developed in 49 schools in 12 departments of the country and in Asunción, the majority in urban areas, and 67% of those surveyed belong to the public school, while the rest is distributed among the private and subsidized schools. The results show that 34% of students spend three hours or more per day doing sedentary activities and that four in ten (43.4%) do not walk or do not use a bicycle to go to school. school. With regard to hygiene habits, only 2.2% of young people brush their teeth once a day, while 8.1% never or almost never wash their hands before eating and 6.5 % never or almost never used soap to wash your hands in the last month.