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HEALTH-VIRUS-MEXICO-OBESITY
Virus-wracked Mexico struggles to get in shape
MEXICO CITY, Aug 26, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – With martial arts training on
rooftops, virtual exercise classes and outdoor workouts, Mexicans are getting
creative as they try to slim down during the pandemic in one of the world’s
most obese countries.
In the urban jungle of Mexico City, Luis “Lucho” Romero follows his Muay
Thai boxing lesson through a cellphone hanging from a tree in his backyard.
“Back straight, Lucho! Alicia, go down more slowly! Come on, just five more
seconds and the last round!” instructor Alejandro Ortega shouts at his
students from in front of a video camera.
Mexico has the world’s third-highest coronavirus death toll — and the
government says poor diets and health problems including obesity,
hypertension and diabetes are partly to blame.
Social distancing measures mean gyms remain closed in much of the country
six months after the outbreak began, posing a major hurdle to efforts to get
Mexicans in shape.
– ‘Going underground’ –
“It’s incredible that the bars are open and exercise is almost going
underground, because there are gyms that open secretly,” Romero, a 27-year-
old physiotherapist, tells AFP.
Mexico has the world’s highest obesity rate among children and the second-
highest among adults, according to the government.
Around one-third of Mexican children and three-quarters of adults are
overweight or obese, increasing the risk of health problems such as diabetes
and heart disease.
“Obesity is also an epidemic,” warns deputy health minister Hugo Lopez
Gatell, who oversees the fight against a virus that has killed more than
60,000 Mexicans.
A quarter of those who died were overweight while nearly three-quarters had
at least one underlying health condition such as hypertension, diabetes and
obesity, official figures show.
Sedentary lifestyles and consumption of processed foods have only increased
during quarantine, according to a survey by the country’s health authorities.
Half of respondents said they consumed sugary drinks, sweets and processed
fried foods, while the proportion who did no physical activity increased from
3.6 percent to nearly 25 percent.
“People are consuming ultra-processed foods that are high in sugar, salt
and calories, and sadly we have set aside natural foods,” says Catalina
Medina, expert at the government’s Center for Research in Nutrition and
Health.
– ‘Armchair greatest enemy’ –
The government is trying to encourage healthy eating with warning labels on
foods high in sugar, sodium or fat.
Two states, Oaxaca and Tabasco, have gone even further by banning the sale
of junk food to children, while several others are considering similar steps.
But the economic crisis unleashed by the pandemic means even some fitness
fanatics are embracing fast food.
David Lopez and his business partners turned their gym in Mexico City into
a restaurant where muscle-bound trainers who once gave tips on pumping iron
now serve tacos instead.
“We became what we swore to destroy. Before we helped people burn calories,
now we sell calories,” says the 39-year-old. Nearly a third of gyms have
closed definitively in a country where only 3.5 percent of the population are
members of sports centers, according to Rodrigo Chavez, president of the
Mexican Association of Gyms and Clubs.
“The armchair is Mexico’s greatest enemy. By not allowing us to open,
people will become even more obese,” he warns.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0759 hrs