Canary Islands has Spain’s highest obesity rates
Obesity has become one of the most pressing public health challenges in the Canary Islands. According to Spain’s latest National Health Survey (2023), 20.6% of adults in the islands are obese, compared with the national average of 15.2%.
Among children, the situation is even more worrying: the ALADINO study, backed by Spain’s food safety agency AESAN, shows that almost half of Canarian schoolchildren aged 6 to 9 are overweight or obese.
A complex health challenge
“Obesity is a multifactorial disease, with social, physiological, and psychological causes. It’s not just about what we eat, but about how we relate to food and the resources we have to manage it,” explains nutritionist Amara Álvarez. She stresses that there are more than 200 known contributing factors, and warns against oversimplifying the problem.
A key problem is lack of exercise, “In the Canary Islands, this is very common. Children spend more hours in front of screens than playing outdoors, and that has direct consequences,” Álvarez points out. Combined with poor diets, the lack of physical activity creates conditions for weight gain from an early age.
Economic pressures and lifestyle changes
The rising cost of living makes the problem worse. The Canaries has one of the most expensive shopping baskets in Spain, which makes it harder for families to choose healthy foods. At the same time, eating habits are changing. “We are cooking less and less at home. Life is more rushed, which pushes us away from the Mediterranean diet and towards Western fast-food patterns. Cooking should be seen as a form of self-care, but it is not encouraged enough today,” says Álvarez.
Prepared meals are increasingly popular, driven by cultural, economic, and social factors, further fuelling unhealthy eating patterns.
Lack of nutritionists in public healthcare
Experts also highlight a structural shortfall: the absence of dietitians and nutritionists in Spain’s public health system. “Spain is one of the few European countries that does not have these professionals in primary care. If they were included, we could prevent many treatments and hospital admissions,” Álvarez argues. She recalls that even in the Canary Islands, there were attempts to create positions at the Doctor Negrín Hospital, but they were never implemented.
Álvarez insists that prevention must be a priority, starting in schools. “If there were more solid programmes in education and more health campaigns, the figures would improve. But we are still fighting for the role of dietitians and nutritionists to be properly recognised.”
Tackling stigma
Beyond the statistics, Álvarez warns against the dangers of stigma. “People with obesity are judged too harshly, when the condition has multiple causes. It is essential to move away from fatphobia, stop reducing it to a matter of willpower, and understand that we need a multidisciplinary approach, with psychology playing a fundamental role.”
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