Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim marked the World Obesity Day, on March 4 , opening its doors to athletes of the Zero Obesity (OZ) Running Team and their families, who had the chance to take free screenings. At the invitation of OZ, and as a way to promote the practice of physical exercise, there were also present Aurora Cunha, former professional athlete who was three-time road track and field champion, and the former Brazilian olympic marathoner Paulo de Paula. The nursing team of Hospital da Luz Póvoa de Varzim – including Ana Novo, Diana Brandão and Maria João Azevedo – performed around 250 screening exams to assess cardiovascular risk, by measuring the indicators of blood pressure, glycaemia, body mass index and cholesterol. On this World Obesity Day, the World Obesity Federation revealed that 51% of the world population – that is, 4 thousand million people – will suffer from excess weight or obesity by 2035, if preventive measures are not taken. The General-Directorate for Health divulged the latest estimates concerning obesity in Portugal: In 2022, 22.5% of the users of health centres had pre-obesity and 13.8%, obesity. The DGS estimations for the global population, however, are even darker: 38.9% in pre-obesity situation and 28.7% already obese. By 2030, inappropriate diet will be responsible for 14% of deaths, exceeding smoking (11%). The OZ Running Team: Is an innovative project, created about a year ago, majorly comprising people who were obese and now participate in different activities, including athletics racings, as a way to motivate themselves in the fight against obesity and show that this disease is not an obstacle; It is also a project dedicated to inclusion, as states Herculano Santos, athlete and mentor of the project, referring the fact that the group already integrates a visually impaired person and a paraplegic athlete, also being receptive to welcome individuals with intellectual and developmental difficulties, who may wish to join this cause.
