Many years ago, there was an advertisement that said, “Saving is sending money into the future.” The same thing happens with health, that is, what we do today sends or takes away health into the future.
Health is an invaluable asset and must be preserved throughout our lives. However, reality – and data – reveal that many Portuguese do not think (and therefore do not act) in this way.
According to Eurobarometer, 73% of Portuguese say they never or never exercise, an increase of another five percentage points compared to 2017. To make matters worse, in Portugal, only 17% of adults do more than 150 minutes of physical exercise per week, almost half the European Union (EU) average. 25% of our young people over 15 years old indicate that they spend eight or more hours a day inactive (sitting or lying down, not counting the time spent sleeping). Physical inactivity is linked to an increased risk of chronic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
When it comes to food, according to a study entitled “Portuguese health: a dual intelligence in its own name”, conducted by Projeto Saúdes (www.saudes.pt), 69% of Portuguese consider food a decisive factor in being healthy. However, in stark contrast, the proportion of adults classified as obese in Portugal is 17%. And in the younger age groups, in 2022, 20% of Portuguese children aged 15 were overweight and/or obese (worrying data for the future of our collective health).
Lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating are interrelated, and are behavioural risk factors that contribute to premature mortality and, of course, to the reduction in the number of healthy years we enjoy after the age of 65: eight years on average in Portugal, while the average in the European Union is 10 years.
In order to change this paradigm, public policies must work, from an early age, to encourage the adoption of healthy behaviors (indeed, the OECD has recommended a goal of reducing physical inactivity worldwide by 15%). But in the name of sustainability and balance in the system, and for the sake of citizenship, private entities, such as health brands, must also do their part.
One of the ways we can do this is, of course, through technology and digital tools, which allow for closer, more flexible and comprehensive healthcare. According to another survey, from Projeto Saúdes, 35% of Portuguese monitor their weight daily through an app; 28% count the steps or kilometers they have walked; 25% the hours they have slept; 19% their heart rate and 17% their water intake. These metrics are (or can be) a source of inspiration for good behavior, and serve not only as immediate forms of self-diagnosis, but above all as daily motivators to achieve goals, reinforcing the will to overcome them.
Increased measurement and access to metrics – digital health – could therefore be a valuable aid to the paradigm shift we so desperately need. If health can be sent into the future, like money, there is a big difference: we have, at all times in our lives, the ability to generate money or wealth. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for health. It is urgent to promote tomorrow’s health today and always.
Sources: Health Project: Health of the Portuguese: Business Intelligence in its Own Name (2021); Eurobarometer: European Commission (2022), European Special Barometer SP525: Sport and Physical Activity; OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2023), Portugal: Country Health Profiles 2023, State of Health in the European Union; National Health Survey (INE, 2019); OECD, Global Status Report on Physical Activity, 2022
