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Health systems in transition
Portugal
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1.4.2 Health behaviour and lifestyle
The Portuguese Health Survey presents recent data (2014) on the prevalence
of major diseases among the Portuguese population. In 2014, 52.8% of the
adult population (15 years or older) was overweight (36.4%) or obese (16.4%).
Overweight was more prevalent among men (42.0% versus 31.6%), but more
women were obese than men (17.5% versus 15.1%) (Table 1.5) (INE/INSA, 2016).
Table 1.5
Proportion (%) of Portuguese residents (aged 15 years or older), by disease and sex, 2014
Total
Men
Women
Overweight
a,d
36.4
42.0
31.6
Back pain
32.9
25.2
39.7
High blood pressure
b
25.3
21.6
28.5
Neck pain
24.1
15.5
31.6
Arthrosis
24.1
15.4
31.7
Allergies
19.4
15.2
23.1
Obesity
c,d
16.4
15.1
17.5
Depression
11.9
5.9
17.1
Diabetes
9.3
9.4
9.2
Asthma
5.0
4.1
5.9
Stroke
1.9
1.9
1.9
Myocardial infarction
1.7
1.9
1.6
Source
: INE/INSA, 2016.
Notes
:
a
Overweight defined as Body Mass Index (BMI)
≥
25 kg/m
2
and < 30 kg/m
2
;
b
High blood pressure defined as systolic blood
pressure
≥
140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure
≥
90 mmHg;
c
Obesity defined as BMI
≥
30 kg/m
2
;
d
Population aged
≥
18 years.
Overall, results show, as noted previously (Table 1.4), that musculoskeletal
disorders, such as back pain, neck pain and arthrosis, are significant among
the Portuguese, particularly among women (Table 1.5). Also, women are
disproportionally affected by depression (17.1%) compared with men. The
survey shows that 25.4% of the population aged 15 years or older have depression
symptoms, being once again women more affected (33.7%) than men (16.0%).
Those retired (36.5%), inactive (27.4%) and unemployed (26.9%) are more
affected by symptoms of depression than the employed population (18.5%)
(INE/INSA, 2016).
A total of 64.9% of the population did not take any physical exercise. That
proportion was higher among women (69.8%) than among men (59.3%). Men
take more physical exercise both in number of days per week and in average
length of time (in hours) (INE/INSA, 2016).