What Latin America can teach the U.S. about battling obesity
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As obesity rates soar in the U.S., policymakers can look to several Latin American policies that are successfully tackling junk food consumption.
The big picture: Nearly 20% of U.S. children and teens ages 2 to 19 are obese, according to the latest available Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. That rate is more than 26% for Hispanic children and teens.
- Although genetics, access to health care and socioeconomic factors play a role in obesity, so does diet. Junk food advertising targets Black and Hispanic children more often than it does white children, according to studies.
- Obesity can lead to dangerous conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
State of play: In the last five years, Chile, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, Ecuador and Peru have passed measures making nutrition labels more clearly understandable, with large hexagon-shaped signs on the front of packages.
- The labels show when foods have excess sugar, calories, saturated fats or sodium, and when they use caffeine or artificial sweeteners, which can be dangerous for kids.
- Some also established disincentivizing taxes on sugary drinks like soda, which studies have linked to childhood obesity and diabetes.
- Chilean, Argentine and Mexican laws also forced companies to get rid of mascots on packaging, such as Kellogg's Tony the Tiger on cereal boxes. They've also restricted when junk food can be advertised on TV. For example, ads can't run during Saturday morning cartoons.
- Colombia last month expanded its junk food law to tax all products that have ultraprocessed ingredients by up to 20%.
Although there is no recent data linking these specific measures to a drop in obesity rates, researchers say they are working to reduce junk food consumption.
- Studies in Mexico have found the soda tax resulted in reduced purchases of sugary drinks.
- The restrictions in Chile contributed to a significant reduction of children's intake of sugars and sodium, according to a peer-reviewed analysis from earlier this year.
Yes, but: Critics say there isn't clear evidence that, aside from changing consumers' habits, nutrition labels like the ones in Latin America have a marked impact on tackling obesity.
- Food companies have sued to stop some laws. They argue the advertising restrictions cut into their right to property and freedom of commercial expression.
- Courts in Chile, Colombia and Mexico have dismissed some of the lawsuits.
- Still, similar ad restrictions implemented in the U.K. are estimated to have prevented more than 94,000 obesity cases since they were implemented in 2019.
What they're saying: "What we saw worked in the Latin American countries [for the anti-junk food laws to pass] is for different groups to get together, for example governments getting together with public health and other health agencies," says Esmeralda Melgoza, a senior research fellow at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute who recently co-authored a report on the issue.
- But Melgoza notes that measures such as soda taxes and explicit labels should be accompanied by policies promoting better all-around nutrition or access to spaces for physical activity.
What to watch: The Food and Drug Administration says it's considering potentially adding warning labels on food packaging sold in the U.S.
- Some U.S. cities have established soda taxes that have lowered consumption, but there are no state or national laws.
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