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Researcher Helps Spain Address Growing Obesity Problem
If childhood obesity strikes you as a distinctly American problem, think again.
Dr. Bernard Gutin, exercise physiologist at the Medical College of Georgia, recently spent six weeks in Spain as a Fulbright Senior Specialist advising academicians, students and administrators about the country’s childhood obesity crisis.
“About 15 percent of children in Spain are obese, so their numbers aren’t far behind ours,” says Dr. Gutin, whose most recent study in the MCG Georgia Prevention Institute documented the importance not only of exercise, but of vigorous exercise in protecting youths from obesity and related health problems such as cardiovascular disease. The study was published in the April American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Dr. Gutin, who visited several Spanish cities during his visit, observed trends in the country that suggest an increasingly Americanized childhood. “We see the same trends here [including fast food, sedentary lifestyles and passive entertainment] taking hold there,” he says. Socioeconomic factors also mirror those in America: poorer children tend to be fatter.
But Dr. Gutin noted positive signs, including Spanish children routinely walking to school and frequenting playgrounds. The Spanish also tend to linger over meals, emphasizing fellowship over food. “The kids usually go home for lunch during school, and I saw evidence of healthier food choices. It was very typical to see mothers stick a sandwich in a child’s hand when they picked their children up from school.”
Yet children in the country are undeniably fatter than previous generations, and Spain has been slower to respond than the
United States, Dr. Gutin says. “I think the country is just coming to an awareness of the scope of the problem and the health risks,” he says. “They haven’t done intervention studies, so university professors and students were very interested in our studies that put kids into exercise programs. They are excited about the possibilities but struggling with funding issues.”
But as is true in the United States, Spanish academicians tend to be persistent and creative in overcoming obstacles. Dr. Luis Moreno, a pediatrician and public health specialist at the University of Zaragoza who hosted Dr. Gutin’s visit, bounced back from stymied funding opportunities in Spain by spearheading a European Union survey to glean continent-wide data on childhood obesity, nutrition and physical activity. He and his colleagues are planning follow-up collaborations with Dr. Gutin, and Dr. Gutin will carry his message throughout Europe in several upcoming lectures.
Dr. Gutin’s overall assessment of his visit is steeped in optimism. “The Spanish are very interested in building on what we have been learning,” he says. “They were extremely gracious, beyond expectation, in hosting my wife, my daughter and me. The one word that comes to mind to describe them is convivial. They love to get together over a meal to laugh and talk about life. I’ve been invited back, and I’m eager for a return visit.”
--Christine Hurley Deriso