New land of obesity

Mexico has surpassed the United States as the most overweight industrialized nation in the world.

A recent United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization report finds that nearly a third of Mexican adults are obese, slightly edging out the U.S. adult-obesity rate of 31.8 percent, according to CNN Health. The report linked Mexico’s rise in obesity to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle as incomes go up and the population moves toward metropolitan areas, and increased consumption of low-cost, high-calorie processed foods.

The trend is particularly troubling for Mexican children, who can be simultaneously malnourished and overweight. “They are exposed to high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt, energy-dense … foods, which tend to be lower in cost but also lower in nutrient quality,” the World Health Organization reported.