Will Taking Junk Food Ads Off Television in Mexico Lead to Healthy Eating? Willy Blackmore - TakePart
go to original July 23, 2014

Junk Food Ads and Kids (Common Sense Media)

It was just over a year ago that the United States lost its dubious status as the world’s fattest country. Last July, a report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found that Mexico has become the fattest nation, with 70 percent of its population overweight or obese.

While the U.S. slid down in the rankings thanks only to Mexico’s expanding collective waistline, our southern neighbor has done more on the policy front in the past 12 months to combat its weight problem than we’ve ever managed to do. First came a soda tax, and this week the government announced a limited ban on ads for soda and other high-calorie foods, both on television and in movie theaters.

There’s a reason for the soda focus: Mexicans are the world’s biggest consumers of soft drinks, downing an average of 163 liters per person per year. That’s more than one 12-ounce soda per day. The hope is that between blocking soda ads between the hours of 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on weekdays and 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on weekends, and the extra 8 cents per liter of soda brought about by the tax, consumption will fall. According to the Latin Times, an estimated 40 percent of advertisements for soda, candy, and other high-calorie foods will be taken off the air.

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