Overweight, including obesity, and inadequate eating habits are among the main determinants of the loss of healthy life years for the Portuguese, contributing, respectively, to 8.3% and 7.5% of total deaths in Portugal in 2021, according to the most recent data from the Global Burden Disease Study (GBD), which has the collaboration of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS). 

The data from this study show that "the high consumption of red meat, processed meats and salt, as well as the insufficient consumption of whole grains, fruit and vegetables were the inadequate eating behaviours that most contributed to the Portuguese living fewer healthy years in 2021", highlights the DGS. 

In addition to inadequate diet and overweight, other determinants of health, indirectly related to the way we eat, such as high plasma glucose and high blood pressure, "are considered the main responsible in Portugal for the appearance of diseases such as diabetes, neoplasms and cardiovascular and renal diseases and associated mortality". 

The DGS highlights that differences were found between men and women, with the contribution of overweight to the disease burden in Portugal being higher in women (high BMI [Body Mass Index] contributed to 8.3% of total DALYs [Years of life lost due to death or disability] in women vs 6.5% in men).

The study also allows us to analyse the last 20 years up to 2021 and to see that pre-obesity and obesity "were the risk factors that most increased their contribution to the disease burden in Portugal, contrary to the downward trend observed for almost all other risk factors". 

In the last 20 years, there has been a 28% increase in the contribution of overweight to the loss of healthy life years and 14% to the total deaths associated with high BMI.

In the same period analysed, high consumption of sugary drinks (+37%), high consumption of red meat (+23%) and processed meats (+22%), as well as low consumption of vegetables (+22%), were the food risk factors for which there was a greater increase in their contribution to the loss of healthy life years.

The authority stresses that these data reinforce the need to intensify efforts to implement measures in the area of prevention and treatment of obesity, as well as public health measures that the DGS has been technically supporting, namely the special consumption tax on sugary drinks.

It should be noted that the Global Burden Disease Study (GBD) is an international study that systematically collects information from 204 countries with the aim of providing information on the diseases and risk factors that most contribute to mortality and loss of healthy life years. The study is coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation of the University of Washington and has the collaboration of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS).

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