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Mexico's chronic epidemic: obesity and overweight worsen during the pandemic

2021-03-19T19:34:29.603Z


The health crisis has impacted on the Mexican scale: about 8.5 kilos on average. Experts predict a sustained increase in these diseases, in the country where 75% of the adult population suffers from them


People wait at a food business where take-out tacos are prepared last September.picture alliance / Jair Cabrera / Getty Images

Claudia Gaspar gained nine kilos in the last 11 months.

In 2020, the cursed year, his grandparents died and several of his relatives fell ill with covid-19.

“I felt very sad, I went through depression and anxiety.

For fear of contagion, I stopped exercising.

I just took my dogs out to the yard.

As I was going to do the supermarket once a week, I used to buy boxes of chocolates, large packages of fried foods, gummies or ice cream, which according to me would last the whole month, but I always ended up eating those cravings between meals ”, says the engineer and housewife, 30 years old.

Its history repeats itself over and over again in Mexico, where overweight and obesity have tripled in the last two decades, in a country where 75.2% of the adult population suffers from this other epidemic, according to the latest survey by National Health and Nutrition (Ensanut).

The confinement and uncertainty caused by the pandemic will leave their mark on the Mexican scale.

An average of 8.5 extra kilograms and an increase in the rates of overweight and obesity, according to the experts and reports consulted, will be the bill that citizens will pay for these months of red and orange traffic lights, where losses, problems accumulate financial and stress.

In the study

Actions and interventions for weight loss

, published by the multinational market research company Ipsos, a group of scientists explored eating and exercise habits in 30 different countries during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to their findings, Mexicans are the ones who have gained the most weight during the pandemic, since on average they gained 8.5 kilos.

Saudi Arabia follows with eight kilos;

Argentina with 7.9 kilos and Peru with 7.7 kilos.

The world average is 6.1 extra kilograms.

According to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mexico is the Latin American country that has the highest rate of overweight and obesity among its population, which has triggered other diseases, such as hypertension and high blood pressure. diabetes.

Experts predict an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity, since what we gain in weight during confinement, it will take months to lose it again.

The OECD estimates that by 2030, 40% of Mexican adults will be obese.

“In May 2020 I got sick with covid.

I had complications and it gave me a very strong depression seeing that many of my co-workers were dying from the pandemic.

The coronavirus left me with respiratory effects and now I can't do much physical activity.

In fact, even doing my chores at home is hard for me because I'm suffocating.

From that moment to date I have gained more than 20 kilograms ”, says Alejandra Calette, 39 years old.

An article published by The

British Medical Journal

(BMJ) points out that there is growing evidence that obesity is a risk factor for serious diseases and death from covid 19. According to the researchers, “multiple mechanisms could explain the relationship between obesity and coronavirus, including the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2), that is, the transmembrane that SARS-CoV-2 uses for cellular entry, and which exists in large quantities in people with obesity ”.

The OECD estimates that by 2030, 40% of Mexican adults will be obese.

During the first months of the so-called National Day of Healthy Distance - a package of measures promoted by the Ministry of Health to prevent the spread of the epidemic, which began a year ago, on March 23, 2020 - changes in habits were registered. food of Mexicans.

To give some examples, during confinement, the consumption of alcoholic beverages increased by up to 300%, compared to 2019, according to those in charge of specialized stores such as La Europea or Bodegas Alianza.

Prepared flours, frozen foods, soft drinks and dressings also registered an increase in sales of up to 20%, according to data from Nielsen Mexico and the National Chamber of the Food Conservation Industry (Canainca).

“As many of my patients started working from home, it allowed them to have better habits and consequently lose weight.

That happened a lot in people who ate in restaurants or who traveled a lot and did not have routines.

30% of all my patients.

There is the other 70%, who gained weight, they reduced their usual physical activity.

And then, obviously, spending so much time at home and having food available made him increase his caloric intake, adding the factor of anxiety and uncertainty ”, says Cristina Shaw, Master of Clinical Nutrition.

And it is that we eat and drink more and worse in extreme situations.

Emotions play a role in the choice, quality and quantity of food eaten.

A study from the National Institute of Health of the United States (NIH, for its acronym in English) says that eating can reduce negative emotions and can be a way to avoid reality.

If someone is used to solving their problems by eating, they will surely gain weight with confinement.

Others, however, need to reinforce their routine.

They will put more restrictions on themselves because the way they cope with uncertainty and fear is with a strict routine.

Experts have widely studied that stress causes changes in our diet.

The

binge eating or stress eating

-terms Anglo relating to eating disorders related to emotional act of commercially seek relief from negative emotions.

It is not about physiological hunger.

If we add to this the over-storage of food during confinement, it is easy to get out of control.

“The emotional issue is directly related to carbohydrate consumption.

The consumption of non-nutritious food such as potato chips, sweet bread, candy, ice cream or desserts increased a lot because it is rewarding.

The moment we begin to indulge in these cravings, we enter a vicious circle, not only emotional, but also physical, because we begin to secrete more insulin.

Blood sugar drops and we begin to need to eat more carbohydrates.

And so that's what a lot of people got into.

In this dynamic of not being able to get out of the vicious circle ”, explains the Nutrition teacher.

“I went up because I thought the pandemic would last three months.

So, I let myself go and every day I ordered food as if it were Sunday.

Then I understood that it would last longer and I set myself the mission of taking care of myself so as not to gain weight.

Now I have lost even more than I weighed before the pandemic began, ”says Abril Mulato.

Luis Mejía recounted a similar situation: “At first I went up, then I recovered when the gyms opened again.

I was able to keep exercising at home and then went back up a bit due to injuries, but I'm getting my weight back ”.

According to the results of the ACTION-IO study (Awareness, care and treatment in the management of obesity: an international observation, for its acronym in English) that were presented at the International European Congress on Obesity, in 2020, and at the With the participation of nearly 2,800 health professionals from 11 countries and 14,500 people with obesity (2,000 of Mexican nationality), 76% of those surveyed say they have no intention of losing weight, while 69% do not feel motivated to lose weight and 34% say they do not have the financial means to support the effort of weight loss.

Mexico ranks first in the world in childhood obesity and second in adult obesity

Mexico declared an epidemiological alert in 2016, after realizing its critical situation: more than 72% of its adults and more than 33% of children are overweight or obese.

In addition, some 230,000 Mexicans die each year from closely associated diseases.

“In December I got sick with covid-19.

My boyfriend infected me and I infected my whole family.

When I saw it so real and saw all the damage that I had caused myself, it was that I stopped.

I gained about 20 kilograms.

I am healing little by little.

From January to here, I have 2 kilos less.

I went back to

face-

to-

face

crossfit

and am trying to nurture my soul.

It has been difficult for me, who always spoke of self-love, I realized that I abandoned myself.

I am getting back on track.

I still have many things to do, but I try to listen to myself, ”says Armenia Velázquez, a secondary school teacher.

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Source: elparis

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