Pork Tacos Topped with Fries: Fuel for Mexico's Growing Diabetes Epidemic Jason Beaubien - NPR.org
go to original April 8, 2017

Rich, fatty street food is available all over Mexico. This vendor prepares tacos al pastor, with the meat cooked on a spit, outside a metro station in Mexico City. (Meghan Dhaliwal/NPR)



Rich, fatty street food like is available all over Mexico — at bus stops, at schools and on street corners. And it's affordable to the masses. A heaping plate of Martinez's favorite pork tacos costs less than a dollar.

All that cheap food — in a country where incomes are rising — is contributing to Mexico's massive diabetes epidemic.



Diabetes is the leading cause of death in Mexico, according to the World Health Organization. The disease claims nearly 80,000 lives each year, and forecasters say the health problem is expected to get worse in the decades to come.

By contrast, in the U.S. it's the sixth leading cause of death, with heart disease and cancer claiming 10 times more Americans each year than diabetes.



Let's say you'd like to go for a run in Mexico City.

Dr. Tonatiuh Barrientos, an epidemiologist with Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, thinks that's a good idea — in theory. An expert on diabetes, he'd like to see more people in the Mexican capital get out and exercise to combat the disease.

But as a runner himself, he knows that Mexico City isn't an easy place to jog. In a metropolis of 22 million, there are only a handful of parks where people can run.

Related: Under NAFTA, Diabetes Became Leading Cause of Death in Mexico (teleSUR)

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