WARNING! Bottled Poison; Minors Beware

It’s Friday afternoon. You walk into a store to get some snackies. You go for candy and a soda and when you walk to the register to make your purchase, the clerk asks for your ID. This is the reality as some states in Mexico are moving to ban junk food sales to minors.

Oaxaca and Tabasco state legislatures have already passed a ban on selling sugary treats to minors. The reasoning behind this seemingly drastic action is statistics like one-third of Mexicans aged 6 to 19 being obese and two-thirds of the people in Mexico who died from COVID-19 having underlying health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular problems. While minors may not be disproportionately affected by the pandemic right now, there could be major consequences in the future.

The overconsumption of “bottled poison” (soda) and other sugary treats is not the fault of individuals, but the nutritional environment that teaches them to favor junk food over health. This is why many legislatures are considering banning junk food with punishment that could include fines and even jail time.

Of course, there will be push back, especially from the business owners’ association, COPARMEX. Many business owners have suffered from the pandemic, it will be hard to regulate street vendors, and things like soda, chips, and white bread are the cheapest ways to get a lot of calories. 

Despite the difficulties around the ban, many teenagers agree that there needs to be a change. They are aware of the health issues that arise from eating too much junk food. However, will the people in urban areas who are often under the constraints of their work or school schedule really be able to transition away from junk food?