ZAGREB, 4 March (Hina) – The Health Promotion Service of the Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) held an Open Day at its Counseling Centre for the Promotion of Proper Nutrition and Physical Activity on Tuesday, warning that 36% of eight-year-olds and 60% of adults in Croatia are overweight.
In Croatia, one in three children is overweight, whereas the European average is lower, with approximately one in four children having excess body weight, highlighted Sanja Musić Milanović, head of the Health Promotion Service, at the event marking World Obesity Day, 4 March.
Overweight and obesity are among the major public health challenges today, particularly childhood obesity, the HZJZ emphasised.
Croatia ranks fourth in childhood overweight and obesity prevalence and, along with five Mediterranean countries (Cyprus, Italy, Greece, Malta, and Spain), is at the top of the European scale, according to the European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative.
“About 60% of adults in Croatia are overweight, which is above the European average,” said Musić Milanović, describing the epidemiological picture of obesity in Croatia.
She also stated that “obesity is a normal response of a normal individual to an abnormal environment,” meaning that obesity would not be an issue if people only ate as much as needed to satisfy hunger.
“If we do not put a stop to this trend, children born in Croatia in 2050 will have a life expectancy 3.5 years shorter than those born in 2020,” warned Musić Milanović.
She considers this a systemic responsibility, as 95% of seven-year-olds are physically active when they start primary school, yet by the time they finish, only about 15% remain active.
Currently, Croatia is implementing the national program “Living Healthy”, aimed at promoting proper nutrition and physical activity to prevent overweight issues.
Additionally, in 2024, the Action Plan for Obesity Prevention until 2027 was adopted, focusing on promoting healthy lifestyles, risk prevention, detection, monitoring, and treatment of obesity.
On World Obesity Day, Musić Milanović urged citizens to step on a scale and become aware of any weight issues so they can address them with the help of the HZJZ Counseling Centre’s multidisciplinary team, which includes nutritionists, kinesiologists, psychologists, a sanitary engineer, and a physician.
“Contact us and visit without a referral – it’s free,” she encouraged the public.
When asked about weight-loss medications, she responded that numerous side effects are well known and that she personally does not believe they are a solution to the obesity problem at the national level.
