Venezuela is warning its citizens about the increasing obesity rate amidst record food shortages, The Associated Press reported.
Venezuelan authorities launched a new campaign Tuesday in hopes to stop the increase of an obesity epidemic that can lead to "a costly, public health crisis if left unchecked," according to AP.
The new campaign with the slogan "Get informed, eat healthy" is dedicated to cutting the country's 40 percent obesity rate in half.
But record food shortages lasting a year are making it harder for families to serve healthy meals, according to Fox News Latino.
The country's largest food company, Empresas Polar SA, blames strict price controls and a scarcity of U.S. dollars for its difficulty in importing supplies and making a profit at the same time, stated Fox News Latino. This has caused many items to be in short supply and hour-long lines to form in supermarkets when these item become available, according to AP.
But the government has presented a plan to stop the shortages: installing fingerprint scanners at grocery stores to stop people from hoarding and smuggling food items.
"The fingerprint scan is going to restore freedom because it will help us find and capture the smugglers," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday.
According to BBC, smugglers take 40 percent of Venezuela's goods and sell it in Colombia for a much higher price, leaving Venezuela with less food than it already has.
The government also announced it would ban the export of 21 food items like rice and sugar, in hopes to protect domestic foods supplies.
The World Health Organization says 67.5 percent of Venezuelans over 20 years of age are overweight. A number higher than any country in South America, but close to the 69 percent of Americans who are overweight, according to AP.
But in a country that is suffering from food shortages, how is there an obesity epidemic?
Nutritionists say that although an unlimited calorie intake is to blame, scarcity is the main reason behind the obesity epidemic.
Low-income families often consume fast food because it's cheaper, according to the Latin American Herald Tribune. They also eat fried foods made with flour to get and stay full, AP reported.
"People are eating but they're not getting nourished," says president of the National Association of Nutritionists and Dietitians Nixa Martinez to AP. "You eat what you can find and what you find isn't healthy."
It is not known when the fingerprint system would be placed in groceries, though officials say it could begin in December or January, according to the Fox News Latino.
