Trend Spain's health risk factors diverging: less tobacco and alcohol, more obesity

Summary

The report says a contrast defines recent trends in Spain's main health risk factors, with tobacco and alcohol use falling while obesity rises. In 2020, 20 percent of the population smoked daily and 9 percent drank alcohol daily, well below the 32 and 20 percent of the 1990s, while leisure-time physical activity doubled from 13 percent in 2001 to 26 percent in 2020. Consumption among 15 to 24 year olds is even lower, suggesting the decline could deepen. Obesity, by contrast, now affects 16 percent of adults and children, up from 7 percent in the late 1980s, and if the trend continues one in four children could be obese by 2050. The report blames sedentary lifestyles driven by office work and screen time, together with limited nutritional information, tight budgets and cheap high-calorie food, especially in lower-income households. It concludes that policies promoting active mobility and making healthy food easier to choose are needed.