The Plenary of the Economic and Social Council of the Canary Islands (CES) has given the green light to the Canary Islands Plan for the Prevention of Childhood Obesity, which includes measures to reduce the numbers of this pathology in households with lower incomes.
The plan aims to curb the high rates of childhood obesity that exist in the Canary Islands. According to data from the AROPE report of 2023, 787,000 Canarians are at risk of poverty, 36.2% of the population.
Data that, according to the Government of the Canary Islands, is closely linked to obesity rates. In fact, the percentage of childhood obesity in the Canary Islands is 25.15% among minors, according to data from a study published by the Spanish Journal of Public Health. This is the second highest rate of childhood obesity in Spain.
Among the measures of the Plan is to increase the nutritional quality of school menus, not only through greater economic expenditure, but through the strengthening of the work of inspection and control of food, as well as the procedures of elaboration.
Likewise, the Plan also promotes the practice of physical activity to reduce inactivity associated with sedentary leisure and, in this way, obtain an optimal state of health.
