As more Latin Americans eat processed food, obesity rates surge (Photo: Vallarta Daily)
Mexico and the rest of Latin America, once plagued by malnutrition, now faces a different type of public health crisis as processed food increasingly replaces traditionally prepared dishes, leading to a surge in obesity rates, a United Nations report showed on Thursday January 26.
Nearly 58 percent of the region’s inhabitants, or close to 360 million people, is either overweight or obese, said the report by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The rapid jump in obesity rates has crisscrossed the region, affecting Latin Americans “regardless of their economic situation, place of residence or ethnic origin,” it said.
That has occurred partly as economic growth, increased urbanization, higher average incomes and the region’s integration into international markets have reduced the consumption of traditionally prepared food and raised that of ultra-processed products, the report said.
The problem is even bigger in countries that are net food importers.
The countries with the highest levels of obesity are the Bahamas, Mexico and Chile, with rates of 69 percent, 64 percent and 63 percent, respectively.
Still, even as obesity rates surge, Latin America is still home to the nation with the highest rate of undernourishment; in Haiti, 53 percent of the population is undernourished.
(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Bernadette Baum for Reuters)
Source: www.reuters.com
Comments
more recommended stories
Couple arrested accused of femicide in Merida’s Vicente Solís neighborhoodAgents and investigating prosecutors from the.
30% increase in passport applications and procedures during the end of the yearThe director of the Passport Office.
For the coming holidays: Apple Pie RecipeWe love nothing more than a.
IYEM expects 1.6 million pesos from sales of Yucatecan handicrafts during the Xmatkuil State FairThe Yucatecan Institute of Entrepreneurship reported.
Disneyland Shanghai closes due to Covid new waveThe Disneyland theme park in the.
Mexico reiterates that the country will not import transgenic corn from the U.S.Andrés Manuel López Obrador, president of.
AMLO’s electoral reform debate was postponed at Mexico’s Lower House of CongressThe debate over the electoral reform.
AMLO says his administration “does not hate women”Andrés Manuel López Obrador, president of.
Mexico registers an increase in Covid cases: Hugo López-GatellHugo López-Gatell, Undersecretary for Prevention and.
Natural Gas coming to the Yucatan at lastThe new postponement of another urgent.
The messenger firm has claimed the Basque nation is portrayed as one
of one of the most frequently developing areas of Spain with regards to business interest.
Here is my page form well-known broker