Can Mexico's Health Program Teach the United States to Lose Weight? Kristin Miller - PBS NewsHour
go to original February 17, 2014

With obesity levels rivaling those seen in the United States, Mexico has launched a rigorous campaign to combat the epidemic, including taxes on sugary drinks and other high-calorie snack foods. How well is that strategy is working - and what lessons can U.S. policy makers learn from their Mexican counterparts? (PBS NewsHour)

The United States and Mexico are now effectively tied for a top spot nobody really wants — most obese in the developed world.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), both populations are edging the 70 percent mark for citizens who are considered overweight or obese.

NewsHour reports from Mexico on government efforts to combat obesity by encouraging exercise and taxing sugary drinks and high-calorie snack foods. These are strategies the whole world might soon need to embrace as obesity is fast becoming a global epidemic.

The rise in obesity brings with it numerous health problems: hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory problems, musculoskeletal diseases and some forms of cancer.

Read the rest at PBS NewsHour

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