In 2021, inadequate eating habits were the fifth risk factor that most contributed to the loss of years of healthy life among Portuguese people and to mortality. The conclusion is expressed in the 2024 report of the National Program for the Promotion of Healthy Eating (PNPAS), one of the priority Health programs of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), which was released this Thursday, October 16, to mark World Food Day.
The document, which brings together all national epidemiological information in the area of food and nutrition, reveals that the Portuguese continue to have a high consumption of red meat and processed meat and a low consumption of whole grains. Three of the main factors that “contribute to the loss of years of healthy life and mortality”.
However, not everything is negative. The report also highlights that Portugal managed to improve its food supply and increase its response in the area of nutrition in Primary Health Care, now being among the European countries with the lowest average salt and sugar content in foods, with lower salt values in bakery products, pre-prepared meals and cheeses, and sugar in soft drinks and cakes and sweet biscuits.
In the conclusions it is specified that, last year, it was possible to verify “a decrease in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in Portugal (-0.7 pp), equaling 4.1%. The analysis carried out by the DGS revealed that “the average percentage of patients undergoing nutritional risk identification in hospital units of the National Health Service (SNS) monitored by BI of nutritional risk was 36.7%”, and that during 2024 “136,921 nutrition consultations were carried out in Primary Health Care (PHC)”.
According to the information provided, it is concluded that “the temporal evolution in this area has been positive since 2022, resulting in an increase of practically 30% in the number of nutrition consultations compared to 2022”, and “in 2024, the time elapsed between the referral of a patient and the completion of the nutrition consultation was a total of 94 days”.
Another positive highlight is the impact of the tax on sugary drinks, which encouraged “the reformulation of the sugar content of these drinks, with a 39% decrease in the proportion of drinks with 8g of sugar per 100mL, between 2017 and 2024”. In other words, the document states, “between 2017 and 2024, there was a 39% reduction in drinks with higher sugar content (≥8g/100mL). This effect, maintained over time, demonstrates the decisive role of fiscal policies in promoting healthier food environments.”
But the results now released suggest that “regulatory measures are more effective than voluntary agreements, as the sugar reduction was significantly higher in soft drinks subject to taxation (−25.7%) than in categories only covered by voluntary commitments (−14.8%)”.
In the future, in terms of goals to be achieved by 2027, the DGS assumes that it is necessary to “improve knowledge about the food consumption and nutritional status of the Portuguese population; promote improved access and quality to nutritional care, at all levels of health care; improve food environments, through measures that reduce exposure and incentives for the consumption of unhealthy foods and, in return, promote exposure to healthy foods”.