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One in five people in Malaga province suffer from obesity, although this is the second lowest rate for Andalucía as a whole, according to a Covid-19 study. Among the factors contributing to this condition, which is nowadays considered to be a disease like any other, are purchasing power, age and physical and mental health status. The study has found that elderly people, individuals with disabilities and people who come from lower education or areas with lower income are more prone to obesity.
It is paradoxical that it was a study related to the pandemic that started in 2020 which provided data regarding obesity - the pandemic of the 21st century, according to some experts.
In medical terms, obesity is a chronic disease consisting of the abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in the body, specifically greater than 30 kilogrammes per square metre. Although there is no provincial data on this, the Andalusian public health service (SAS) treats more than 462,600 Andalusians for obesity every year. To tackle what they define as a "public health problem", they are working on the Piobin plan (Plan Integral de Obesidad Infantil) to include all ages.
"Obesity is a complex condition that develops and persists throughout life, influenced by a combination of genetic, environmental and behavioural factors. A comprehensive approach allows these factors to be addressed holistically, promoting awareness, prevention and ongoing treatment from childhood to adulthood," said the regional health ministry.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been warning about the sustained increase in obesity in the world. Since 1975, rates have tripled, with 41 million children under the age of five and 340 million children and adolescents (5 to 19) overweight worldwide in 2016.
According to national health data collected between 2006 and 2017, Andalucía has a higher prevalence of obesity in the adult population (those over the age of 17) compared to Spain as a whole. While the data concerning overweight individuals were similar in 2017 (37.4% in Andalucía and 37.1% in Spain), those related to obesity were higher in Andalucía (21% compared to 17.4% for Spain).
The only study that has been carried out since then is the aforementioned Covid-19 study. While Malaga appears to have high levels of obesity, it stands below the Andalusian average.
Treatments
The medical field has evolved a lot in recent years when it comes to treating obesity. Conditions of extreme obesity allow stomach reduction operations, which have doubled in Andalucía in the period from 2014 to 2023, with 327 and nearly 700 operations, respectively. The provinces of Malaga and Seville led the ranking in 2023, with 193 and 148, respectively; followed by Granada and Cordoba, with 125 and 123 each. At the other end of the scale were Almeria and Jaén, with 31 and 0, respectively.
The arrival of medicines such as Ozempic or Mounjaro on the market has given a twist to treatments, as they seem to work. However, neither is currently financed by the Spanish Social Security system, which makes the price of up to 350 euros per month virtually unaffordable for many people.
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