Mexicans need to change their lifestyle with better nutrition

Mexico City, 20 Mar Mexicans need a drastic change of life to prevent the growth of overweight and obesity rates, and for this it is essential to modify nutrition, said nutritionist Carmen Ruiz this Sunday. “It's about living better, not just living longer, and that happens when changing eating habits,” said Ruiz, a graduate in Dietetics and Nutrition and a teacher in Family Education Sciences. The covid-19 pandemic has led to a worsening of overweight and obesity figures, according to the Mexican Ministry of Health's National Health and Nutrition Survey (Ensanut). Fifty-nine per cent of households have some degree of food insecurity and the proportion of chronic diseases, such as diabetes with 10.6 per cent and 13.4 per cent for arterial hypertension in adults, remains high. La Ensanut offers a portrait of the profile of a people chronically ill with non-communicable conditions, which cause one third of deaths in Mexico and which are the product of this development model that has replaced nutrition. For several decades, poor nutrition has been maintained with an excess of industrialized, processed and ultra-processed products, with high caloric value and very low nutritional value, according to Ensanut. The national proportion of overweight and obesity in adults is 74.1 per cent, representing a 2.8 percentage points increase compared to 2012. To combat the epidemic of high rates of overweight and obesity, nutritionist Carmen Ruiz advises eating snacks of natural origin and rich in fiber between meals as they are suitable for providing energy and a feeling of satiety to improve our diet. “We have to change the type of snacks that are now consumed to eat others that are healthy and have nutritional value such as almonds that can be combined in many ways,” said the nutritionist. “It is important to keep in mind that what we eat must be delicious and that is why there are multiple combinations, especially with children in mind,” he added. “There are many different combinations. For example, yogurt and almonds or using smoothies with certain fruits as a way to ingest nutrients and vitamins,” Ruiz said. The dietetics expert recalled that the time of snack or snack is an essential part of eating to achieve a nutritional balance. “That is why the importance of almond consumption. A handful a day (23 pieces) is recommended, because they contribute not only to weight control but also to improve cardiovascular health and prevent chronic diseases. You have to know how to eat better to prevent future generations from continuing to get fat,” he concluded. CHIEF ra/esc/laa (photo)