In two years, almost 40% of the Valencian Community population –aged from 25 to 64– will suffer from overweight and 17% will become obese persons. These figures will rise: by 2030, 41,3% will suffer from overweight and 22,1% will become obese. These are the findings of a study carried out by Universitat de València and Universitat Politècnica’s researchers, which is financed by the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas (IVIE).
‘We can state the increase of the overweight people and obese people by solving the equations’ points out Francisco José Santonja, Universitat de València’s researcher. ‘The figures are an increase in 1% of overweight or obese people in two years, and an increase in 5% by 2030’ agrees Rafael Villanueva, Institut de Matemàtica Multidisciplinar’s researcher. To implement this study, researchers were assisted by the endocrinologist Alfonso Morales from Hospital Virgen del Consuelo.
The researchers also calculated the Valencian Government health expenses derived from overweigh and obese population: from 335.5 to 400 million Euros in 2014, and 1,300 – 1,600 million in next four years.Por último, el estudio incluye también un análisis del impacto que tienen las campañas, para la prevención de la obesidad en la población. “De este análisis, concluimos que las estrategias combinadas (de prevención y tratamiento) son mejor que las estrategias únicas (sólo prevención o sólo tratamiento).”, apunta Rafael Villanueva, investigador de la UPV.
The study, published in the journal Evaluation and Program Planning, is based on a mathematical model application of differential equations and it takes data from the survey Encuesta de Salud de la Comunidad Valenciana. This model starts from the premise that nutrition bad habits in the Valencian Community are passed on among people.The researchers also calculated the Valencian Government health expenses derived from overweigh and obese population: from 335.5 to 400 million Euros in 2014, and 1,300 – 1,600 million in next four years.
Finally, the research includes an analysis on the effects of campaigns conducted to prevent obesity among people. ‘The conclusion draw from this analysis are that combined strategies like prevention and treatment are better than only ones strategies’ stated Villanueva, UPV’s researcher.
Last update: 30 de january de 2012 09:37.
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