Adult obesity: USA #1
Child obesity: Mexico #1
Diabetes: A disaster on both sides of border ----  

The connection between obesity and diabetes is being reinforced by new statistics that represent an epidemic in the United States and Mexico. Health officials are warning of a public health crisis from diabetes-related disease in Mexico, where a fifth of all women and more than a quarter of men are at risk for diabetes today.

Obesity levels have tripled in the past three decades and it is currently the nation’s No. 1 killer, with 70,000 lives lost per year.

Public health experts blame changes in lifestyle that have made Mexican adults more obese than any other nation except the United States, which still ranks #1. A generational shift from traditional Mexican food to junk food and soft drinks combined with less active lifestyles has caused an explosion in obesity rates. A 2012 federal health and nutrition survey found that 64 percent of men and 82 percent of women in Mexico were overweight or obese.

Obesity, once a mark of wealth in transitional economies such as Mexico, is now a major threat to the nation’s health and public health budgets. Consumption of high calorie food and drink has increased rapidly. Consumption of soft drinks has increased by 60 percent over the last 14 years. The average Mexican consumes 728 eight-ounce sugary drinks from Coca-Cola per year, an average of two a day -- far more than the 403 eight-ounce drinks that are consumed per person annually in the United States.

Of even greater concern, Mexico now has higher obesity rates among children ages 5 to 11 years than any other country. According to a 2012 health survey, 34.4 percent of children are obese. The comparable figure in the United States is 16.9 percent, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Diabetes, which is often a result of the same diet and lifestyle choices that lead to obesity, is also increasing in Mexico. Nearly 10 million Mexicans now have diabetes, according to the Health Secretariat. Diabetes is the primary cause of blindness in Mexico as well as the main reason for amputation of arms and legs.

Facts on diabetes in Mexico:

- Every hour, 38 new diabetes cases are confirmed.
- Approximately 70,000 people die from diabetes-related illness each year.
- Approximately 400,000 young people under age 15 suffer from diabetes Type 1 or Type 2.
- Of each 100 patients with diabetes, 14 will develop kidney failure of some degree.
- Of each five patients with diabetes, two will begin to suffer blindness.
- During the last six years there were 482,654 diabetes deaths in Mexico. In the previous six-year period, there were about 270,000 diabetes-related deaths.

Source: Department of Health of Mexico