‘Farewell, Junk Food!’ – Mexico Bans High Caloric Snacks in Schools

The Mexican government moved to ban junk food in schools over the weekend in an attempt to combat one of the world’s worst obesity rates and a diabetes epidemic, the Associated Press reported.

The health guidelines, first published last fall, immediately targeted sweet or salty processed foods common among schoolchildren, such as sugary fruit drinks, potato chips, artificial pork rinds, and soy-encased, chili-flavored peanuts.

Under Mexico’s new regulations, schools must gradually eliminate foods and beverages with even just one black warning label indicating high levels of salt, sugar, calories, or fat. Such labeling on the front of packaging has been compulsory in the country since 2020.

Schools are now ordered to serve nutritious alternatives to junk food and offer plain drinking water.

Mexico’s Education Ministry wrote on X: “Farewell, junk food!” He also invited parents – the majority of whom seem to agree with the law – to also provide healthy food at home.

According to UNICEF, Mexican children consume more junk food than any other children in Latin America. The childhood obesity epidemic in the country was recently classified as an emergency, with one-third of Mexican children considered overweight or obese, according to government statistics.

Forty percent of Mexican children’s total calorie intake consists of sugary drinks and highly processed foods.

While school administrations violating the new order can be fined from $545 to $5,450, it remains unclear how the ban will be enforced. Previous bans on junk food have struggled to gain traction, while monitoring has been spotty across Mexico’s 255,000 schools – many of which lack water fountains altogether, along with reliable Internet and electricity.

It was also unclear how Mexico plans to prevent street vendors from selling junk food on sidewalks outside schools during recess or after classes end.

Mexico’s ambitious plan to change its population’s eating habits and promote a healthy food culture among the next generations of consumers has attracted attention around the world amid a global obesity pandemic, the newswire wrote.