According to a new UN study, Mexico has stripped America of the “most obese” title. Congrats Mexico, really, great job! American’s held the honor of highest obesity rates among more populous countries just as recently as March, but have since decided to pass the torch along to Mexico. And Mexico isn’t taking their duty to the title lightly: approximately 70% of Mexicans are overweight and one third are obese. Mexican teenagers are especially determined to keep the lead in obesity rankings seeing as nearly a third of them are obese, and according to the study, plan to stay overweight for the rest of their lives.
All jokes aside, weight-related health issues such as diabetes are serious concerns for the country. As many as 70,000 Mexicans die each year from diabetes. Physician Abelardo Avila of Mexico’s National Nutrition Institute said, “The same people who are malnourished are the ones who are becoming obese. In the poor classes we have obese parents and malnourished children. The worst thing is the children are becoming programmed for obesity. It’s a very serious epidemic.” UN expert Olivier de Shutter explained the difficulty for Mexicans wishing to switch to healthier diets in a report on Mexican agriculture and nutrition saying that the epidemic is more severe for those “particularly in urban areas or in the northern states.”
What Mexicans call Vitamin T – mostly found in tacos, tamales, and tostados – can be considered the root of the problem. These foods, which used to be reserved for special celebrations and occasions, are now the anchor of a Mexican’s diet and are loaded with carbohydrates and fats. Reorganizing food production and consumption could help the availability of more nutritious food for more people, especially lower-class citizens.
Although Mexico may be at the lead of the obesity pack for now, the taco-gobbling country is hardly alone. These are the five fattest countries based on obesity percentages:
- Mexico (32.8%)
- United States (31.8%)
- New Zealand (26.5%)
- Chile (25.1%)
- Australia (24.6%)
