Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - As Mexico's food supply becomes more Americanized, their struggle with obesity and related health problems are becoming more Americanized as well.

Studies have shown that in the last few decades obesity has been gaining recognition as a serious public health problem in Mexico. This epidemic transpired clandestinely in a country that was still focused on chronic malnutrition in the population.

A new study, Exporting Obesity: US Farm and Trade Policy and the Transformation of the Mexican Consumer Food Environment, links macro-economic reforms like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which propelled Mexico into the global economic arena, and the obesity epidemic in Mexico.

Although these trade policies were thought likely to have effects on the available food supply in Mexico, the association had not been defined. It is important that we examine how these trade liberalization policies have influenced the food supply in Mexico.

Another result of NAFTA's trade reform policies has been the increase in the foreign direct investment in Mexico's food industry.

"The realization that NAFTA’s policies on trade and investment may be in some part responsible for creating an unhealthy food environment in Mexico, similar to that in the US, is new," Karen Hansen-Kuhn, a study co-author and program director with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) says.

Since the modification of trade policies between the two counties, exports of fruit and vegetables into the US from Mexico have increased, while exports of cereals, fats, vegetable oils, meat, dairy products, and processed foods from the US into Mexico have also increased. The US is by far the largest exporter of snack foods to Mexico.

Dr. David Wallinga of IATP states, "As Mexico’s food environment has come to resemble that of the US, with more sodas, processed meats, and other snacks high in added fats and sweeteners being made available, it’s no wonder that Mexico’s battle with obesity and its related life-threatening problems has also become more prevalent."

Another result of NAFTA's trade reform policies has been the increase in foreign direct investments in Mexico's food industry; fast food restaurant chains and soda, candy, and chip manufacturers, to name just a few.

From 1988 to 1999, the period in which NAFTA was negotiated, signed, and put into effect, the average daily energy obtained from fat in Mexico increased from 23.5 percent to 30.3 percent (a 28.9 percent increase.) In the same period, soda consumption in the country also increased 37.2 percent.

Mexican children and adults, both rich and poor, and from diverse geographic regions, are consuming more added fats and sugars from snack foods, sodas, and processed dairy and meat products - and their health is suffering in the process.

While public health researchers and policymakers are deliberating the connection between the food system and the US obesity epidemic, the impact of comparable forces on the population of it's neighbors and trade partners has been less considered.

The IATP notes that before being commissioned, bilateral or multilateral trade agreements typically have not been evaluated for impacts on public health. This study suggests pre-sanctioned "health impact appraisals" would be smart politics for future trade policy debates such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact.