Small piece, please: Cooks prepare the world’s longest sandwich in Mexico City.
(Eliana Aponte/Reuters)Photos (1 of 1)
Mexico: World’s fastest-growing bellies meet state slimming diet
Mexico tops the charts in obesity increase, but the government is trying to control the bulging bellies.
By Sara Miller Llana | Staff Writer 10.06.09
• A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.
MEXICO CITY – Succulent pork tacos. Frisbee-sized disks of fried pigskin. Enchiladas smothered in cream.
Yes, the cuisine in Mexico is divine, but it is downright calorific. And the citizens here are fast becoming the fattest in the world – closing in on the biggie-size-loving United States.
“The rate of increase in obesity in adults in [Mexico] over the past 15 years is probably the fastest we’ve seen in any country around the globe,” says Barry Popkin, a nutrition expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who advises the Mexican government.
Main culprits include the globalization of fast food, urban living, and a penchant for soft drinks and other sugar-laden beverages.
The good news? Mr. Popkin says Mexico has taken one of the most aggressive stances against its bulging belly. The government is now handing out reduced-fat milk to welfare recipients instead of whole milk and is working on getting drinking water in schools across a nation where a can of Coca-Cola is usually more accessible than a glass of clear agua. This month Mexico will begin a “no more salt” pilot program in the state of Colima to get saltshakers off restaurant tables. The State Council on Women and Social Wellbeing in the state of Mexico also began providing “tastings” to introduce taco-loving Mexicans to calamari, soy, and sausage made of trout.
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3. vic22 | 10.07.09
no way, in a country where u may be suceptible to random drug cartel violence at any time. the last taco u eat better be damn goooood
4. Olivia | 10.09.09
The best way to take an aggressive stand against “bulging bellies” is to take a radical position against violence to animals and quit consuming their flesh and secretions.
Poor pigs, cows, steer, chickens and egg-laying hens suffer day in and day out, all so people can thoughtlessly or heartlessly appease their appetites.
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1. Frank | 10.06.09
It is amazing that this country (Mexico) is presented as being poor, ravaged by criminals (drug traffic) and full of potential illegal emigrants (to the USA) is now struck with an obesity epidemic!
Easier to get a can of coke than water; traditional foods swimming in cream and other high fat juices, no wonder they are concerned and growing girths.
Congratulations to the states that have decided to declare war on obesity; well done all who promote healthy lifestyles. Now the challenge; convince the eating public that this is good for them…..