Health Battle Over Soda Flares in Mexico Amy Guthrie - WSJ.com
go to original August 29, 2013

Diabetes is now the top killer in Mexico and many health experts blame the nation's soft drink habit. Calls to tax and regulate sweetened beverages are being met by a soda industry that says there's no link between its beverages and obesity. (ReutersTV)

MEXICO CITY — The public-health battle over sugary soft drinks, punctuated by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's failed attempt to ban big sodas, has spread to Mexico, long a stronghold of Coca-Cola Co.

Like the U.S., Mexico is struggling to contain an epidemic of diabetes, which is closely linked to obesity.

Mexico recently overtook its neighbor to the north for first place in a ranking of the world's fattest nations with populations of 100 million or more, according to a United Nations report.

Seven out of 10 Mexican adults over the age of 20 are either overweight or obese, according to the country's latest national health survey. An estimated 10 million Mexicans have diabetes, or roughly 9% of the population, the highest proportion in any country with more than 100 million inhabitants.

Suddenly, in a country where Atlanta-based Coca-Cola wields enormous financial and cultural clout, some civic activists, politicians and public-health officials are painting soft-drinks, and Coke in particular, as villains.

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