Obesity in Mexico, is soft drinks to blame?

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Why does Mexico have a serious obesity problem? The fault lies with the soft drinks, accused those who defended that an increase in the price of flavored drinks would generate a change. In 2014, the federal government implemented a Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS) on sweetened beverages to combat obesity, one of the main problems of Mexicans. This year it reduced the tax by 50%. Two years later, what effect did the one peso per liter tax on sweetened beverages have? A reduction of only 3% in the consumption of sweetening beverages. That is, the Mexican stopped drinking 15 milliliters of these products a day, the equivalent of a teaspoon or a sip. A study by the Economic Research Center (CIE) of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL) shows that in the best of cases, the IEPS reduced the average intake by only 0.21% of the total caloric consumption of Mexicans, which according to According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2013), it is just over 3 thousand kilocalories per day, which exceeds by 51% what is recommended by the same organization. Which reinforces the argument that as a public policy measure aimed at reducing caloric intake in Mexico, the IEPS for flavored beverages did not work.

Which makes it impossible to maintain that the consumption of soft drinks is the main cause of overweight and obesity in Mexico. Even completely eliminating the America Mobile Number List consumption of soft drinks and assuming that it is not replaced with other products, the common Mexican diet exceeds the WHO recommendation. IEPS hit the economy On the other hand, the evidence available to date suggests that, at least in cost-benefit terms, the tax measure affects more than it benefits. The application of the tax not only does not work to reduce the daily caloric consumption of Mexicans, but it is also a regressive measure. That is, it harmed the poorest households, since they are the ones that dedicate the largest proportion of their income to purchasing food and beverages. The tax also had effects on the economy in general. In the most conservative scenario, it is estimated that in 2014 the country's gross production fell by 6,454 million pesos (0.04% of GDP). In addition, the tax caused the loss of just over 10 thousand jobs.

The relevance of the non-alcoholic beverage industry Regarding the current situation of the industry, the researchers conclude that the non-alcoholic beverage (NNA) industry is of great importance for Mexico. On the one hand, households allocate a substantial part (2.7%) of their budget to the purchase of BNA. On the other hand, this industry is related to other sectors of the country's economy. In particular, the industry is an important buyer of intermediate inputs in the Mexican economy. Furthermore, this industry has expansionary effects on product, income and employment that are greater than those present on average in the Mexican economy and, particularly, the manufacturing industry. The BNA industry represents 0.61% of GDP directly and 0.46% indirectly. Therefore, it can be calculated that this industry contributes almost 1.1% of the country's gross production in a broad sense. Additionally, the BNA industry provides direct employment to more than 100,000 people. Soft drink industry jobs are the highest paid within the BNA industry. In recent years, average salaries in the soft drink industry remain between 20% and 40% higher than in the manufacturing industry.