New figures from the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM) show that around one in five children aged between five and 14 in Madeira was classified as obese in 2025. The data comes from the children’s module of the 2025 National Health Survey (INS), which gathered information from parents and guardians about children under the age of 15. According to the survey, 87.4% of children in the Autonomous Region of Madeira were described by their parents as being in “very good” or “good” health, below the national figure of 92.3%. Oral health results were also lower than the countrywide average, with 84.1% rated as having “very good” or “good” teeth and gum health and 13.5% assessed as fair, bad or very poor. The survey found that 20.7% of children in Madeira had health problems in the previous 12 months that limited normal age-expected activities, compared with 18.9% nationally. Based on BMI calculations adjusted for age and sex using World Health Organisation growth standards, 54.3% of children aged between five and 14 were found to be at a healthy weight, while 40.3% were above the healthy range. Of those above the healthy range, 20.8% were overweight and 19.5% were obese, a level well above the national obesity rate of 12.9% and likely to intensify debate over childhood nutrition, exercise and preventative health measures.
