The document also indicates a rise in obesity, particularly among women.
This information is part of the National Health Survey 2014, carried out by the INE in collaboration with the Doctor Ricardo Jorge Health Institute, which aims to profile Portugal’s resident population aged over-15 in three key areas: state of health, health care and health determinants related to lifestyle.
In 2014, 52.8 percent of the population aged 18 or over was overweight (in comparison to 50.9 percent a decade ago), the INE’s report stated, stressing “the rise in obesity was more expressive, having affected mainly women.”
By age group the study found that obesity was more common among people aged between 45 and 74 (with proportions above the national average), while level II excess weight was found mostly among the 65-74 age group.
Another particular observed in the study was the growth in the number of people with chronic diseases, namely the amount of people who said they were suffering from kidney problems, which grew from 1.8 percent to 4.6 percent in a decade.
A third of the population aged 15 and over said they suffered from chronic back pain, which is the most common chronic ailment expressed in the survey.
A large number of people also said they had high blood pressure (25.3 percent), cervical pains or chronic problems with the neck and pain in joints (arthrosis).
Women are more affected by arthrosis than men, as they are by neck pains and back pains.
The study further found that a third of the population (35.1 percent) aged 50 or over had admitted to having undergone a colonoscopy in the previous ten years.