On March 4th, World Obesity Day, was launched the book “Take care of yourself – Guidelines for a Healthy Life”, within the scope of the project with the same name, developed by the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), together with the Centro Materno Infantil do Norte (CMIN).
Winner of the “Comunicar Saúde” Award from Ciência Viva – National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture, for its contribution to the health literacy of the population, the project “Take care of yourself – Guidelines for a Healthy Life” aims to alert to the dangers of pediatric obesity and diabetes, emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis, as well as the implementation of measures to prevent the development of chronic disease in adulthood.
“Child obesity and diabetes, which is directly associated, is one of the main health problems for children and adolescents. It is a problem that in Portugal has a very worrying dimension, with overweight and obesity rates very close to 30%, which places Portugal as one of the countries with the highest incidence of the disease”, warns Alberto Caldas Afonso, professor at ICBAS, Director of CMIN and responsible for the project.
The book aims to clarify concepts and doubts, so that everyone can understand how to adopt a healthier lifestyle. The contents were developed by a multidisciplinary team, with the aim of being understood and disseminated by the greatest number of people.
“Take care of you- Guidelines for a Healthy Life” is aimed at all children, adolescents, families and schools. Through simple, appealing and didactic content, it alerts to the importance of an early diagnosis and the establishment of measures that can prevent conditioning of chronic illness in adult life.
“This book focuses on easily understandable, very practical content that will allow its use in everyday life. For the younger ones, an interactive game was also designed that challenges them to answer the questions presented in the book”, explains the coordinator of the work.
Taking into account the impact of social networks on teenagers, videos were also developed with two 'influencers' - the actress Madalena Aragão and the player of Futebol Clube do Porto, Francisco Conceição -, which show how diet and physical exercise allow them to maintain an optimal daily performance.
In order to reach school communities across the country, ICBAS partnered with Missão Continente, which included the book in the contents of itsu educational program (Escola Missão Continente). In this way, it is intended to reinforce the message of the importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle to Pre-School, 1st and 2nd Cycles of Basic Education.
