Sugar rush: How a taste for soda fuelled a health crisis

When a southern Mexican state effectively outlawed sales of sugary drinks and sweets to children to protect public health, the ban made international news. But few people in Oaxaca are aware of the rule and the authorities have not enforced the measure, despite tens of thousands of deaths nationally a year linked to sugary beverages, as obesity and diabetes rates soar.

- Mattha Busby YALALAG, OAXACA

Diets in Mexico have shifted towards ultra-processed foods and higher meat consumption - as well as sugary drinks. Today the state has the highest rate of child obesity in Mexico and the second highest among adults. The ban on selling fizzy drinks to children, announced in 2020, was earmarked to be implemented within a year, but there has been inaction.

Campaigners say the ban would face stiff opposition from industry if it was imposed. "Femsa, which bottles Coca-Cola in Mexico, has enormous power," said Alejandro Calvillo, director of Consumer Power.

Political magazine Proceso alleged last year that Coca-Cola "employs strategies to prevent, delay or weaken the regulations that restrict its activities".

Mexico is now fourth in world rankings of the consumption of soft drinks per capita. It was first until the sugar tax was implemented, with 137 litres consumed per person every year.