Mexico: the most obese country in the world

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has reported that Mexico is the most obese country in the world.

Mexico already exceeds the United States in this indicator, due to the fact that one in three Mexicans is overweight due to poor nutrition, thereby generating an increase in cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, among others.

Both health advocates, as well as the policy and campaigns of the Federal Government of Mexico to counteract obesity, overweight and other multifactorial public health problems, have been encouraging people in recent years to reduce the consumption of certain types of beverages, including carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, sweetened with sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup.

Obese

At the local level, in August 2020, the government of the state of Oaxaca reformed the Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents of the State of Oaxaca to prohibit the distribution, donation, gift, sale and supply of sugary drinks and packaged foods from high caloric content to minors, being exempt from said prohibitions the parents or guardians of said minors.

Also, according to the Cultiba Organization, the government of the State of Tabasco reformed in August 2020 the Health Law of the State of Tabasco, the Education Law of the State of Tabasco and the Municipal Treasury Law of the State of Tabasco, to prohibit the distribution, donation, gift, sale and supply of certain products, including pre-packaged carbonated sweetened beverages to minors.

In this last regulation, the parents or guardians of said minors were exempted from these prohibitions, and in general, the sale or installation of vending machines for the sale of these products in public and private schools, public and private hospitals and health centers, in addition to impose a 25% increase in the rate of payment of rights for the advertising of these products, and prohibit the placement of advertising at a certain distance from schools, hospitals and health centers.

On the other hand, the state of Colima joins the states of Oaxaca and Tabasco, which have prohibited the sale, distribution and promotion of products and food with a high caloric content to minors, coupled with the fact that states such as Querétaro, Chihuahua , Nuevo León and Coahuila discuss initiatives in the same direction in their local Congresses.

In addition, the Secretary of Health of the federal government has asked the Congress of the Union to legislate on adequate food, in order to regulate the sale of food and beverages with a high caloric content to minors.