Upwards, risk of childhood obesity: study

Carolina Gómez Mena

La Jornada newspaper
Wednesday, February 19, 2025, p. 11

In 21 states of the country there is a greater risk that infants have overweight and obesity in the course of their first nine years of life, including Nayarit, Baja California, San Luis Potosí and Coahuila, said Marina Díaz, Basic Research Coordinator of the Center of excellence and innovation for childhood rights and opportunities.

When presenting the results of the Risk Atlas for Child Nutrition in Mexicostudy conducted with Save the Children, explained that the analysis showed that In girls and boys between five and 11, obesity almost doubled, from 9 percent in 1999 to 17.5 percent by 2020-2023, as average of the three years.

In the other face of the currency, chronic malnutrition (low stature for age) in infants from zero to nine years of age, indicated that the factor that most influences family violence, and in the opposite sense are monetary transfers those that protect this sector from chronic malnutrition.

He cited that in states such as Yucatán, State of Mexico, Quintana Roo, Sinaloa and Mexico City, children from zero to nine years have a considerable risk of suffering chronic malnutrition at some point in that life journey.

Dirk Glas, executive director of Save The Children, indicated that research, in addition to expressing concern about the lack of access to some food groups and the great exposure to ultraprocessed products, It invites us not to lose sight of the structural causes that prevent children from eating, growing and developing integrally. In this sense, we agree with the authorities and with experts that the best way to address the problem of child nutrition is from prevention.

He stressed that the exercise of childhood right to a nutritious food should be a priority of all social sectors, because it is the basis of healthy growth for cognitive development and general well -being, which also directly impacts its school performance , its long -term health and the possibility of breaking cycles of poverty and inequality.

Nancy Ramírez, Director of Political Incidence of Save The Children, pointed out that one of the sectors that faces the greatest challenges to access quality foods are childhoods in mobility or displacement, such as children from families agricultural day or internal and foreign migrants.

He stressed that it is essential to strengthen the budget for nutrition in the early childhood stage, which is essential for the development of minors. In this period They acquire the skills they will have for their development and well -being throughout their life cyclehe pointed out.