Jalisco’s battle to reduce childhood obesity took a new turn last month when education chiefs announced a plan to fine primary school principals who allow the sale of junk food (chatarra) in their facilities.
Authorities admit, however, that the move is only a small part of a much larger fight to improve children’s health and reduce the growing obesity trend.
The alarming child obesity rate in Mexico – 34 percent of children are overweight, according to the most recent research – is rooted in multiple factors. Poor nutrition is a major one. This often starts at birth with new mothers nowadays routinely rejecting breast-feeding, which is proven to lead to healthier infant weights. Even with the extra taxes slapped on soft drinks by the federal government, the consumption of sugary beverages is widespread among children in Mexico, and while the country is bursting with low-cost fruits and vegetables, statistics show that most kids are not getting their recommended “five-a-day” input. One of Mexico’s least distinguished claims to fame is its ranking as the world’s number one per capita consumer of soda.
Promoting exercise among children is another major goal for regional governments in Mexico. Many public schools in Jalisco do not have regular physical education classes or assign insufficient time for the kind of activities that will make much difference to the health of their students. (Officially, children enrolled at schools in Jalisco should receive a minimum of 30 minutes’ exercise each day.)
This puts a greater onus on parents to encourage their children to leave aside their smartphones/video games/TVs and engage in a physical activity. The American Heart Association recommends kids and teens participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day. The problem is exacerbated as adults in a progressively urbanized Mexico embrace more sedentary lifestyles, and are unable to pass good habits on to their children. (Changing sleep patterns of children is another issue that is likely to enter the debate in Mexico. It is generally agreed that adequate sleep helps prevent weight gain. Studies in the United States show that children who sleep in the same room as “screens” – smartphones, ipads, computers, TVs, etcetera – get significantly less sleep than those who don’t.)
Mexico’s public sector health services are already stretched to their limit, and an increasingly overweight population will further squeeze funds. Treating an obese child costs around three times as much as one with regular weight, research shows.
Some countries are so concerned by the financial implications of out-of-control obesity that draconian measures are being discussed. Legislators in Puerto Rico have already debated a bill that would have fined parents of obese children up to US$800 if they do not lose weight. Organizations in Great Britain and a few other countries have proposed similar measures, although the legal obstacles to such moves would be numerous. So far, most U.S. states have resisted calls to give powers to protective services to remove severely overweight children from their homes, although a few cases have been documented.
Mexico is a long way from introducing such measures but the medical facts are clear. Obesity is linked to a variety of serious health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Studies show that someone who is 40 percent overweight is twice as likely to die prematurely as is a person of optimum weight.
That’s worth bearing in mind next time you offer to buy an overweight kid a refresco and a bag of chips.