The political debate in Portugal is full of comparisons with the reality of other countries in the European bloc. It is an easy, inexpensive exercise that, on top of that, allows for millions of possible arguments, within the old “glass half full” or “half empty” logic. It has its origin, perhaps, in the trauma of the Salazarist “proudly alone” and in the most effective way of combating it: demonstrating, through numbers, how this isolation distanced us, for decades, from the economic, educational, health, cultural and social reality of the countries with which we could compare ourselves, in size and in population.
This argumentative resource has also benefited from the fact that the European Union has a reliable and prolific statistical service, which regularly informs us about how we compare ourselves with each of our partners. The numbers are thus continually used according to the convenience of each and serve to answer any question: Do we or do we not have the highest tax burden in Europe? Does our economic growth outpace or lag behind that of others? Are we, in terms of development, in the tail or in the middle of the European squad? Exactly based on the same indicators, it is possible, in the political debate, to demonstrate the existence of diametrically opposed realities. It all depends on the perspective and skill with which the graphics are drawn – and on the argumentative ardor of those who display them, even fleetingly, in front of the television cameras.
In the midst of this cacophony of indicators, statistics and graphs, there is, however, a reality that does not allow for second interpretations or even a different perspective: in terms of sport and physical activity, the Portuguese are – with all the numbers – the most inactive in Europe.
The most recent Eurobarometer, published this week and which collects data from a vast survey carried out in the 27 countries of the European Union, is eloquent, both in terms of percentages and conclusions: 73% of Portuguese people say they never practice any physical exercise or sport. . And when asked how often they engage in physical activity, outside of sport, such as cycling, dancing or even gardening, the answer is almost the same: 72% confess that they never do it.
After all, the Portuguese are the European champions of physical inactivity. But the most impressive thing is that this reality is still far from the themes that dominate the political debate, as if this were a minor topic and without relevance to our lives – despite its importance, already more than scientifically proven, for health, the psychic and mental development, learning and, in general, for life in society.
It can also be, cynically, a short-sighted political strategy: why waste energy on a subject that, perhaps, only interests the 22% of Portuguese people who, in the Eurobarometer, claim to practice sport, “regularly” (4%) or with “some regularity” (18%).
The reality is that these numbers are too bad to be reduced to the usual deafening silence. Even because we will pay the bill for this reality in the near future: the fact that we are at the tail end of Europe in the practice of sport and physical exercise will, perhaps, end up taking us to the first place in Europe… in health expenditures.
