Specialists warn that the obesity epidemic in Mexico will increase by 2030, with a prevalence of almost four out of every ten people.
Almost four out of every 10 Mexicans will suffer from obesity in 2030, warned one of the specialists from the Mexican Council of Internal Medicine and the Mexican Society of Nutrition and Endocrinology.
“Projections indicate that by 2030, approximately 36.8 percent of the Mexican population will suffer from obesity, with an annual increase of 1.6 percent,” Dr. Fátima Margarita Rodríguez Dávila, surgeon and obesity specialist stated in an interview.
According to the World Obesity Federation, Mexico has experienced an “alarming growth” in obesity in recent decades.
The country is in fifth place in the world, with 21 million women (41 percent of the total) and 15 million men (31 percent) with this condition.
Ricardo Luna, president of the Central American and Caribbean Federation of Obesity and Metabolism, Mexico and Colombia, recalled that overweight and obesity affect 33.6 percent of children and adolescents from five to 19 years of age in Latin America.
“This is mainly due to low levels of breastfeeding and diets deficient in fruits and vegetables and rich in ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks,” he added.
He stated that in 2021 obesity was responsible for 2.8 million deaths from non-communicable diseases in the region.
“Mexico ranks fifth in the world in terms of this disease, which affects more than 50 million people, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (Ensanut) 2022,” he explained.
Multifactorial causes
Dr. Ricardo Luna pointed out that among the factors that contribute to obesity are mental health, an unhealthy social environment, access to quality medical care, and a high consumption of ultra-processed foods.
“Therefore, the problem is more complex than an alteration in caloric income and expenditure, its roots are deeper and encompass multiple dimensions of health and well-being,” he argued.
The Mexican organization El Poder del Consumidor stated that the obesity epidemic is mainly due to the increased consumption of ultra-processed products, which has largely derived from the lack of regulation of the food environment.
“One of the causes of the lack of implementation of food policies aimed at attacking obesity has been the great opposition of the food industry, which has done everything possible to prevent the Mexican State from advancing the relevant regulations,” the organization noted. in a document.
Comprehensive care
In addition to this, Luna emphasized that “the social stigma of obesity reinforces assumptions that this disease is the responsibility of the individual, damaging mental and physical well-being.”
In addition, he stated barriers such as the lack of resources to obtain a more complete treatment, the scarcity of healthier foods and insufficient knowledge about obesity as a disease.
Rodríguez Dávila said that “emotions have also emerged as a crucial factor in the development of excess weight, since many people turn to food as a way to cope with stress, sadness or anxiety, experiencing what It is known as emotional hunger.”
Meanwhile, Luna pointed out that medical nutritional therapy, pharmacological treatment, and bariatric surgery are treatment options for obesity, although “it is necessary to go to a health professional to review the best option.”
TYT Newsroom
