Almost 40% of Mexican Children Are Overwheight, Diabetic

Recent data from Mexico’s Ministry of Health reveals that 39% of school-age children are overweight or obese, and 38% are living with diabetes. Additionally, 59% suffer from dental cavities, primarily due to high sugar consumption. Authorities are introducing counteractive measures, including banning junk food sales in schools, restricting unhealthy food advertising, and expanding physical activity requirements within the education system.

"Sugar triggers dopamine release and promotes addiction-like behavior," says David Kershenobich, Minister of Health. These findings come from a national health assessment of 12 million elementary school children, launched under President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Live Healthy, Live Happy initiative. As part of the effort, 738 brigades, each with 11 health professionals, were deployed to measure students’ height and weight to assess their health.

Globally, Mexico ranks seventh in diabetes prevalence, with 14.1 million people affected, according to the International Diabetes Federation’s 2021 report. Type 2 diabetes, historically associated with adults, is increasingly diagnosed in children and adolescents. One in four Mexican children with diabetes has type 2, a condition often tied to obesity, poor diet, and physical inactivity. Experts also cite cultural misconceptions, such as viewing overweight children as healthy, as factors delaying diagnosis and intervention.

In recent months, a range of measures have been implemented across Mexico to combat the ongoing childhood obesity crisis. As part of the federal government’s Live Healthy, Live Happy strategy, authorities launched the digital platform Mi Escuela Saludable (My Healthy School), developed by advocacy groups El Poder del Consumidor and REDIM. The tool enables parents and educators to report non-compliance with school food regulations and monitor the availability of nutritious food and clean drinking water, drawing on successful international models like those in Brazil and Chile.

In Mexico City, Green Party Deputy Jesús Sesma has pushed for restrictions on the advertising of ultra-processed foods and alcohol in public entertainment and sports venues to reduce children’s exposure to unhealthy marketing. Meanwhile, national data from the Alliance for Healthy Eating reveals that students consume more than 500 calories of junk food during school hours each day.

In parallel, federal lawmakers such as PRI Deputy Emilio Suárez have proposed amending the General Education Law to mandate at least three hours of weekly physical activity in schools. This initiative is now under review.

The Ministry of Education (SEP) echoes this approach. Cristina Cruz, General Coordinator of Educational Liaison, SEP, says that exercise is key in fostering discipline, reducing school violence, and strengthening social ties, further reinforcing the multidimensional approach needed to reverse alarming obesity trends among minors.

Health professionals, including Martha Kaufer, Director of Nutrition, INCMNSZ, continue to stress the link between nutrition, disease prevention, and emotional well-being. On World Nutrition Day, Kaufer advocated for complete, sufficient, balanced, varied, adequate, and safe diets. She encouraged a return to traditional, minimally processed foods and called for coordinated efforts among families, government, and media to support long-term improvements in public health.