Faro receives mobile obesity screening unit

Next Saturday, June 21st, a mobile obesity screening unit will be at Praça da Liberdade, in Faro , between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm, in a joint initiative by the medical societies SPEDM, SPEO, SPCO, the patient association ADEXO and Lilly Portugal . The aim is to raise awareness of this disease, considered one of the epidemics of the 21st century, and to encourage those suffering from obesity to seek appropriate medical care.

With the motto “The body can resist weight loss”, the campaign aims to facilitate early diagnosis through the measurement of Body Mass Index (BMI), weight and other indicators, carried out by a specialized team consisting of an endocrinologist and a nurse.

Over the course of more than a month, this national tour has already visited cities such as Vila Nova de Gaia, Braga, Coimbra, Aveiro, Leiria, Santarém, Castelo Branco and Évora. On June 21st, it will arrive in Faro, then continue on to Almada and Lisbon — more specifically to Parque das Nações and Belém — thus ensuring complete coverage from north to south of the country, from 10 am to 6 pm.

José Silva Nunes, president of SPEO, highlights that “obesity screenings are rarely carried out and made available to the population, which proves exactly how little importance this disease has when compared to others, such as high cholesterol or hypertension, for example.”

Carlos Oliveira, president of ADEXO, emphasizes that “this screening is not just for those who do not recognize that they are obese or overweight. It is a health screening and an opportunity for everyone: for those who live with obesity or overweight, for those who have never sought a diagnosis, for those who have tried for years to combat this disease without success, for those who do not know what the next step is, and also for those who, although they do not suffer from the disease, know someone who does and would like to help and advise.”

“The body can effectively resist weight loss. In most cases, it is a hereditary and biological condition. We want people who suffer from this disease to have the necessary multidisciplinary support, whether from a family doctor, endocrinologist, psychologist, nutritionist or even a surgeon, if necessary,” says Paula Freitas, president of SPEDM.

John Preto, president of SPCO, adds that “national promotion of obesity screening is essential to identify the disease early, highlight that effective treatments are available and reinforce the fight against the associated stigma by providing patients with the support and care they deserve”.

The work developed so far in the fight against obesity by Lilly Portugal and its partners aims to continue other initiatives developed throughout the year, so that more people identify obesity as a disease that has treatments, especially when national figures prove this urgency: approximately 7 in every 10 Portuguese people are obese or overweight, thus becoming one of the greatest threats to public health in this period.

century, and being associated with more than 200 other diseases and 13 types of cancer.