Health crisis: a third of overweight children in Latin America

A third of children and adolescents are overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean, where the coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating the difficulties of access to quality food for minors, Unicef ​​warned Monday (September 13).

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"In recent years, more and more children and adolescents are overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean,"

said Unicef ​​in a statement.

, aged 5 to 19,

detailed Unicef, whose headquarters for this geographical area is in Panama.

For the United Nations Agency for Children (Unicef), childhood obesity is caused by a lack of physical activity, as well as by the consumption of ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks, easy to access, cheap and which are the subject of intense advertising campaigns.

Factors that the health crisis linked to the coronavirus has worsened:

, noted Jean Gough, director of Unicef ​​for Latin America and the Caribbean.

.

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“In addition, with the closure of schools, many children have stopped receiving food at school and the possibilities of physical activity, such as places to practice it, have been restricted,” she

explains.

.

Unicef ​​urged countries in the region to strengthen and implement legislative frameworks ensuring the quality of food in homes and schools; encourage the resumption of school feeding programs, family access to healthy food and promote physical activity.

Jean Gough.