| | |  Health & Beauty 
DF Assembly Clamps Down on Obesity Rate
 Mauricio Gonzalez - The News
go to original
April 09, 2010
| | Schools to monitor students’ weight; junk food banned on premises. | |
Mexico City - In efforts to curb obesity and excess weight in Mexico City, the Legislative Assembly (ALDF) has passed reforms to require public primary schools to periodically collect information on students’ weight.
Modifications to the Law for the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity and Eating Disorders, which were passed unanimously Thursday, will allocate more money to fight overweight and obesity, according to Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) Dep. Marciela Contreras Julián, who is also president of the assembly’s health and social aid committee.
In addition, the city government will undertake widespread campaigns directed at all socio-economic levels to prevent obesity and overweight, and will offer free access to all public athletics facilities operated by the city and its 16 boroughs.
Also included in the reforms are a ban on the sale of junk food on public school property.
Nationwide, childhood obesity has reached “alarming levels,” Contreras said: 25.9 percent of boys and 26.8 percent of girls aged 5 to 11 are obese or overweight.
Contreras said that overweight, obesity and eating disorders were priority matters and public health problems, which “must be confronted immediately.”
In related news, federal deputies are debating a bill to ban junk food in school and require students to exercise for 30 minutes each day.
The bill was introduced for debate on Thursday but was soon withdrawn, over complaints that National Action Party (PAN) Dep. Miguel Antonio Osuna Millán broke protocol when he proposed the legislation.
The bill, which has found support from several parties, grants power to health and education authorities to ban junk food in school, and calls for them to promote a low-fat, low-sugar diet.
However, critics say that the measure is impractical, since many schools lack the infrastructure to allow students to exercise or play sports.
The Public Education Secretariat’s (SEP) Infrastructural Diagnostic, taken in 2009, reported that of the 184,602 schools examined, 142,981 lacked soccer fields and 142,243 didn’t have multi-purpose fields or recreational spaces. Of the schools that were outfitted with soccer fields, some 7,000 were in poor condition.
The deputies’ proposal also requires labor, education and health authorities to support and develop “recreational, leisure and cultural activities to promote a diet low in fats and sugars, which would allow for the healthy development of nuclear families.” |
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us