A Mexican medical expert has proposed all 18-year-old citizens should be screened for cardiovascular disease (CVD) because the Mexican diet is "more dangerous than fast food."
"I have proposed to the Mexican government that 18 year-olds should have obligatory measurements of glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure and body mass index (BMI), with repeat assessment every three years. Screening could be done in schools, shopping [centers] and other public places and if an abnormality is found a strategy should be in place to treat it. This would be easy and inexpensive and I am waiting for the government's response," Doctor Enrique C. Morales Villegas, Director of the Cardiometabolic Research Centre said in a European Society of Cardiology news release.
"The Mexican diet is more dangerous than fast food chains. It's a combination of fried food, junk food and soft drinks. The philosophy of life is around comfort. People eat too much and [every day] they watch [four] hours of TV, spend [two] hours at the computer and do less than 10 minutes of physical activity," Morales said.
The diabetes and cardiovascular disease rose by 9.5 percent in only one year. The most recent Mexican National Survey of Health and Nutrition found 73 percent of women, 69 percent of men, and 35 percent of adolescents are above a healthy weight.
"[The] combination of poor diet and sedentary lifestyles is the main cause of Mexico's obesity epidemic. Obesity is not just an aesthetic problem, it's a profound health problem and the consequences are diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and hypercholesterolaemia (high blood lipids) - all known as cardiometabolic risk factors. This explains the very high mortality from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in Mexico."
The survey estimated the adult prevalence of diabetes in Mexico was between 14 and 16 percent; about 31 percent of all Mexican adults struggle with hypertension and about 40 percent have bad cholesterol.
"Mandatory screening of cardiovascular risk factors is needed to improve detection in the current population. In addition, education on healthy diet and physical activity is needed in schools to prevent CVD risk factors developing in future generations," Dr. Morales said.
"We need to modify the 'Mexican way of life' and perform the latest procedures to treat cardiovascular disease. The traditional Mexican diet is rich in carbohydrates and fat and in recent years exercise has diminished a lot, especially among children in schools. We need to change public perceptions so that our children become more active and eat more healthily," Doctor Juan Verdejo Paris, MSC President, said in the news release.
