Manuel Franco

In Spain, both in the child and adult populations, excess weight and obesity are more prevalent among men. Additionally, lower educational levels, lower income, disability, and the presence of individuals with obesity in the household are factors associated with a higher prevalence of excess weight and obesity. These are some of the conclusions drawn from two scientific articles and two complementary reports prepared by the National Center for Epidemiology of the Carlos III Health Institute and the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN). The data is derived from the ENE-COVID survey, which investigated the seroprevalence of COVID-19 infection in Spain.

The heat waves that took place in Europe during the summer of 2022 were associated with more than 61,000 deaths on the continent, more than 11,000 of them in Spain. These are the results of a modelling study published in the journal Nature Medicine and led by ISGlobal researchers.

Living near green spaces over a long period of time is associated with better health, an association more marked in women and white people than in men and black people, according to a study conducted in four US cities. The analysis concludes that exposure to urban green space between 1985 and 2006 is associated with slower epigenetic ageing, and that this association is stronger in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The international team publishing this paper in Science Advances includes a researcher from ISGlobal in Barcelona. 

Heat waves and other events accentuated by climate change affect health, especially for the most socially vulnerable people. To counteract these effects, mitigation and adaptation plans for cities are designed based on scientific evidence, the implementation of which belongs to the local political sphere. Two experts in urban health and climate governance analysed these problems and their possible solutions in a briefing organised by SMC Spain.

A panel of 386 academics, led by ISGlobal (Barcelona), has established a series of recommendations to end the threat of covid-19 following the Delphi method, a prospective technique based on the search for consensus among a group of experts. The results are published in the journal Nature.

In an interview on TV3's Els Matins, the Catalan government's health minister Josep Maria Argimon explained that they are preparing a regulation to ban smoking on bar terraces and make them "smoke-free spaces". They are also considering adding canopies and the entrances and exits of schools to the ban.

In the coming days, our children and young people will return to their schools. In addition to their education, schools offer the possibility to improve and maintain their health also through healthy and sustainable nutrition. This is one of the current challenges in Europe; a much more complex challenge than it may seem.  

Using data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey, researchers show that children and adolescents (aged 4-14 years) who skip breakfast or eat it away from home are more likely to have psychosocial behavioural problems. The research is published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition.

"The level of alcohol consumption that does not harm health is zero," says a review of dozens of studies conducted in recent years on the effect of light drinking. The 20 or so authors of the paper, and other experts, insist that "alcohol is carcinogenic from the first drink". In their view, this message should be conveyed more clearly to the public.

The Public Health Commission has updated the Covid-19 Surveillance and Control Strategy, which will come into force on Monday 28 March. From then on, as long as indicators of healthcare utilisation are at low risk, diagnostic testing will focus on vulnerable individuals and settings and severe cases. Surveillance will focus on these groups.