Greece is facing a serious obesity problem among children and adolescents, with some primary school pupils already developing high blood pressure because of their weight, Deputy Health Minister Eirini Agapidaki has warned.

Speaking on Enopios Enopio, the ANT1 television programme hosted by Nikos Hatzinikolaou, Agapidaki said Greece had become a “negative champion” in childhood obesity after moving away from many habits associated with the Mediterranean diet and adopting more sedentary patterns common in Western countries.

The deputy minister said the problem begins at a very young age and is already affecting children’s health, referring to adolescents, kindergarten-age children and pupils in the fifth and sixth grades of primary school who have developed high blood pressure linked to obesity. She also spoke about her own experience, saying she had reached 108 kilograms as a child and had lived with obesity throughout her life. “Obesity is a disease,” she said, stressing that treatment requires medical evaluation, supervision, nutrition and exercise, particularly when medication is used.

Agapidaki said the Health Ministry has created local networks across Greece with municipalities, universities and other organisations, and has introduced school-based programmes offering free sports activities and nutritional counselling. More than 100,000 free healthy meals have been distributed, she said, while 2,000 families with obese children have now reached a healthy weight. Children who had high cholesterol and high blood pressure have also recovered, she added.

She said the National Prevention Programme “Prolambano” is being turned from a Recovery Fund project into permanent national health policy, with €300 million secured from national resources. “Health cannot depend on the size of one’s wallet,” she said, describing the programme as one of the best-designed prevention initiatives in the European Union and noting that Greece has been recognised by the EU, the United Nations and the World Health Organization for its prevention work and its action on childhood obesity.

Agapidaki also briefly responded to allegations by Pavlos Polakis, an MP for SYRIZA, Greece’s main left-wing opposition party, concerning the Health Ministry’s programmes, its cooperation with UNICEF and the “Prolambano” initiative. She said the cooperation with UNICEF and the related expenditure had been approved twice by the Court of Auditors, Greece’s supreme financial court, and that she would be willing to appear in Parliament if asked.

The interview also included an emotional report from Evros, in north-eastern Greece, where a man named Ahmet said Agapidaki had encouraged him to undergo tests that revealed a serious cardiovascular condition. “If it weren’t for her, I might not be here today,” he said.