Mexico bans sale of junk food in schools

Mexicans consume large amounts of sugary drinks and have high obesity rates - Photo: GETTY IMAGES

On October 18, Mexican Minister of Public Education (SEP) Mario Delgado announced that the government will ban the sale of snacks, foods and drinks with low nutritional value and high sugar, fat and sodium content in schools.

Speaking to reporters at an event in the southeastern state of Tabasco, Minister Delgado stressed the need for legal tools in the Mexican General Education Law to ban the sale and consumption of junk food in schools.

He said he would announce the ban at President Claudia Sheinbaum's upcoming press conference, and advised families, especially parents, to change unhealthy habits and "nutrition culture."

Mexico is now one of the countries with the highest rates of childhood obesity in the world . According to El Poder del Consumidor, overweight and obesity in Mexican children have increased by 120% in the past three decades. It is estimated that by 2030, at least 7 million children and adolescents in this Latin American country will be overweight and 50% of them will be at risk of diabetes.

Mexico's health sector has issued urgent warnings about the current overweight and obesity situation in the country due to the rapid increase and negative impact of the disease on people's health and Latin America's second largest economy .

At a press conference by President Sheinbaum on October 14, Mexican authorities also proposed measures to ensure the nutritional health of children and adolescents. Officials affirmed that food and drinks provided in schools must be made from natural ingredients, and that products with warning labels must not be brought into schools.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/mexico-cam-ban-do-an-vat-trong-truong-hoc-20241019192239178.htm