Obesity and association with other Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases ((ECNT, for its acronym in Spanish): a perspective grounded in human dignity and a person-centred approach

Abstract

Obesity is regarded as a public health issue, as people living with this condition-who are considered the primary risk factor for developing non-communicable chronic diseases (NCCDs)-require an ethical approach grounded inhuman dignity, promoting interventions that focus on the individual rather than solely on the disease. The aim was to determine the prevalence of obesity and other CNCDs in a working population drawn from the records of the Regional High-Speciality Hospital, between June 2025 and September 2026. Materials and methods: A descriptive, retrospective quantitative study with a population of 872. The sample size was calculated using a 95% confidence interval (CI) and an expected error of 0.05%, yielding n=620; sampling was random. Descriptive statistical analysis.
Results: 620 records, of which 386 (62.4%) were women and 233 (37.6%) were men. With regard to nutritional status, the women were found to have grade I obesity, whilst the men had grade II obesity. The majority of women were identified as having grade I obesity and the men as having grade II obesity. With regard to NCDs, hypertension was the most prevalent, followed by type 2 diabetes, as well as a high proportion of sedentary behaviour, with 59.2% failing to meet the recommendation for moderate weekly physical activity. It is concluded that an overweight or obese person does not necessarily suffer from a chronic non-communicable disease, but there is a higher likelihood that one condition is associated with the other. This is an urgent and pressing issue, and it has become a need that must be addressed in a timely and personalised manner by healthcare professionals, with an emphasis on promotion, prevention, diagnosis and person-centred treatment.