Square eyes

Kids spend nearly five hours a day looking at screens at the expense of their health

SPANISH children spend 294 minutes per day on screens during weekends, according to an alarming new study.

The 2022 PASOS Study on Physical Activity, Sedentarism, Lifestyles and Obesity in Spanish Youth followed a previous study from 2019, which tracks obesity incidence rates and other health indicators among Spanish children. The study found more children were being sedentary during weekends, with Spanish young ones spending on average 294 minutes per day

By Anthony Piovesan

on screens.

The findings also noted a decrease in healthy eating habits between 2019 to 2022, measured in Spain by adherence to Mediterranean diets. It found that one in three children aged eight to 16 years are overweight or obese at some stage. As part of a broader look at wellbeing, the study found 40% of girls of the same age felt worried or unhappy.

Bad medicine

HUNDREDS of medicines used to treat colds or flu are under review in Spain due to a potential risk of brain diseases. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) put the medications containing pseudoephedrine under review last week. About 30 are marketed in Spain, these include the wellknown Termalgil, Gelocatil, Influenza with Pseudoephedrine, Frenadol Descongestivo and Cinfatos

The agency’s safety committee targeted the products due to a risk of developing brain diseases where there is a reduced blood supply to the brain, which can cause serious and life-threatening complications in some cases.

Spain leads all countries of the European Union in obesity, with four out of 10 girls and boys living with obesity or deemed overweight. Obesity has also doubled in girls and adolescents in the past 20 years.

Obesity

Spanish president Pedro Sanchez, High Commissioner against Child Poverty Ernesto Gasco and co-founder of the Gasol Foundation, Pau Gasol, have presented a plan to reduce childhood obesity by 25% by 2030. The National Strategic Plan for the Reduction of Childhood Obesity has more than 200 measures that will follow six key steps; promote physical activity and sports, promote healthy eating, promote emo- tional well-being and adequate rest, promote healthy lifestyles, protect children’s health and create a cultural shift towards healthy lifestyles.

BARCELONA has been named one of the top European cities accommodating those who need to follow a strict gluten-free diet.

It came in eighth place and was the top Spanish city in a study by travel logistics app Bounce. The study considered how growing interest and popularity in the Catalunyan capital in the early 2000s established Barcelona as a foodie capital. The city scored an impressive 8.07 out of 10 overall, with 714 eateries per 100,000 people. Of those, there are 83 gluten-free eateries per 100,000. There are 24 Michelin-starred restaurants and more than 45 million TikTok views for Barcelona-foodie related videos, the study also noted.