A study conducted by the Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (ISPUP) concluded that there are gaps in Portuguese people’s knowledge about obesity and that greater knowledge does not necessarily translate into a healthier body mass index (BMI). The researchers highlight the importance of public health programmes to analyse the extent to which there is a link between acquired knowledge and the adoption of healthy behaviours.
The study, published in the journal “Eating and Weight Disorders – Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity”, evaluated the knowledge that the Portuguese have about obesity, a condition that represents a risk factor for the emergence of other chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular pathologies and many types of cancer.
“This study collected information on different obesity-related domains of knowledge, seeking to go beyond the most frequently asked questions about obesity, and which usually focus only on exercise and diet. We have taken a step forward in that we have asked individuals about other dimensions of the disease that are often not explored. We gathered information on the prevalence, importance of physical activity, number of calories, fat location, causes, diagnosis, treatment and consequences of obesity”, says Ana Henriques, first author of the paper, coordinated by Susana Silva.
The research was carried out using a questionnaire applied to 1624 individuals, aged between 16 and 74 years old, residing in mainland Portugal. In addition to issues related to knowledge about obesity, the survey also collected information on some demographic characteristics (age, gender, etc.) of participants and their BMI.
The study found that most Portuguese recognize the benefits of physical activity, the impact of lack of exercise on abdominal obesity and the consequences of overweight, regardless of their BMI.
However, some knowledge gaps were detected regarding the prevalence of obesity, the number of calories to be eaten daily and the diagnosis of the disease, particularly in the calculation of BMI. Less than a third of participants were able to answer correctly to these parameters.
Regarding the comparison of knowledge according to individuals’ BMI, those with a normal BMI know how to calculate BMI, and the correspondence between BMI values and their categories, as well as how many calories a healthy adult should ingest daily. On the other hand, people with obesity most often correctly identify natural products and supplements as not being the most appropriate treatment for overweight.
For Ana Henriques, the research results “show, first, that it is necessary to analyze the knowledge about obesity of the Portuguese at a deeper level because there are several domains related to this condition that people are unaware of and which need to be explored. Second, it would be equally important to understand the extent to which further dissemination of information translates into the adoption of healthy behaviours. Deepening the link between information and action is crucial for the fight against obesity”.
The study is entitled “Obesity-related knowledge and body mass index: a national survey in Portugal”. The researchers Ana Azevedo, Nuno Lunet, Pedro Moura Ferreira and Isabel Carmo also participated in the study.
The research is part of a broader project that assessed Portuguese health knowledge and behaviours in various fields – obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer – and which was supported by the Instituto de Ciências Sociais da Universidade de Lisboa (ICS-UL). The results of the various works are compiled in the book A Informação sobre saúde dos Portugueses: Fontes, Conhecimentos e Comportamentos, organized by Pedro Moura Ferreira, a researcher at ICS-UL, and Nuno Lunet and Susana Silva, researchers at ISPUP.
