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| Mexico Takes Bloomberg-Like Swing at Soaring Obesity | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| MEXICO CITY — Rosa Isela Sandate kicked her drinking habit about six months ago and swears she will never go back. | MEXICO CITY — Rosa Isela Sandate kicked her drinking habit about six months ago and swears she will never go back. |
| “I used to drink three or four a day,” she said. | “I used to drink three or four a day,” she said. |
| She would down a Coke or a Boing!, a tooth-jangling sweet local drink, at every meal. Her belly grew so big that diners at her lunch stand thought she was pregnant and warned her against working too close to the grill. “They said, ‘Take very good care of the baby, the heat will hurt it,’ ” she said. | |
| It was hard banishing the sugary drinks, recalled Ms. Sandate, 31, nursing a large bottle of water, but the effort paid off. She has lost 13 pounds. | |
| The government would like more Mexicans to follow Ms. Sandate’s example. In a bet against an epidemic of obesity and diabetes, President Enrique Peña Nieto has proposed a tax on sales of all sugary drinks. If it goes through, the levy will make Mexico a rare test case of a national soda tax directed at a severe obesity problem. | |
| The proposal has set off heated arguments in Mexico, but in the middle of the debate is an anti-obesity crusader from New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. | The proposal has set off heated arguments in Mexico, but in the middle of the debate is an anti-obesity crusader from New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. |
| Beyond his push to limit the sale of large sugary drinks in his own city, Mr. Bloomberg’s foundation is helping to finance the drive to curb them in Mexico as well. | Beyond his push to limit the sale of large sugary drinks in his own city, Mr. Bloomberg’s foundation is helping to finance the drive to curb them in Mexico as well. |
| Its three-year, $10 million grant is being used to support anti-obesity advertising campaigns, finance research at Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health and promote policies like the soda tax, nutrition labeling and controls on junk-food television advertising aimed at children. The foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, calls its work in Mexico a pilot project that could be adapted to other developing countries if it is successful. | |
| The “general strategy has been to look where there is a very high burden,” said Dr. Kelly Henning, who heads the foundation’s public health programs. In Mexico, she said, soda is “a very big piece of the puzzle.” | The “general strategy has been to look where there is a very high burden,” said Dr. Kelly Henning, who heads the foundation’s public health programs. In Mexico, she said, soda is “a very big piece of the puzzle.” |
| With a cry to fight foreign intervention, the anti-tax contingent here has seized on the mayor’s role to discredit the soft drink proposal, branding it “the Bloomberg tax.” | With a cry to fight foreign intervention, the anti-tax contingent here has seized on the mayor’s role to discredit the soft drink proposal, branding it “the Bloomberg tax.” |
| The proposed tax, which Congress is scheduled to vote on this week, has set off a lobbying blitz. Lining up for it are public health experts and activists. On the other side are multinational soft drink companies and billionaire bottling magnates, as well as small-scale sugarcane farmers and neighborhood store owners. | |
| “It’s not our fault that Mr. Bloomberg doesn’t have anything else to occupy his time,” said Cuauhtémoc Rivera, the president of a national association of corner stores that has bought multiple newspaper ads criticizing the tax. “He’s so rich that he is trying to teach Mexicans how to eat and drink.” | “It’s not our fault that Mr. Bloomberg doesn’t have anything else to occupy his time,” said Cuauhtémoc Rivera, the president of a national association of corner stores that has bought multiple newspaper ads criticizing the tax. “He’s so rich that he is trying to teach Mexicans how to eat and drink.” |
| The Bloomberg money has given some unaccustomed advertising punch to health activists. Over the summer, one of the organizations receiving money from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Consumer Power, touched a nerve by running a billboard and radio campaign in Mexico City with other activists that asked, “In your right mind, would you give your child 12 teaspoons of sugar?” — the quantity in some soft drinks. | The Bloomberg money has given some unaccustomed advertising punch to health activists. Over the summer, one of the organizations receiving money from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Consumer Power, touched a nerve by running a billboard and radio campaign in Mexico City with other activists that asked, “In your right mind, would you give your child 12 teaspoons of sugar?” — the quantity in some soft drinks. |
| “It’s very difficult to get financing here because the business sector acts as a monolith,” said Alejandro Calvillo, the director of Consumer Power, who has become the target of anonymous YouTube attacks describing him as a Bloomberg stooge. | “It’s very difficult to get financing here because the business sector acts as a monolith,” said Alejandro Calvillo, the director of Consumer Power, who has become the target of anonymous YouTube attacks describing him as a Bloomberg stooge. |
| Mr. Calvillo says he has been stymied in his effort to buy television airtime for a new ad, which proposes that the money raised by a soda tax should go toward installing drinking fountains in schools. | |
| One national network stalled, he said; the other rejected it. | |
| Almost 70 percent of Mexicans are now overweight, and about a third are obese, according to the World Health Organization, about the same proportions as in the United States. Like much of the world, Mexicans exercise less and eat more fat and sweets than they used to. Calorie-laden foods that were once Sunday treats, like tamales or breakfast pastries, are part of the daily diet. | |
| And there is a special place at the table for soft drinks: On average, Mexicans consume about 40 gallons a year, according to the industry, close to the amount in the United States. | And there is a special place at the table for soft drinks: On average, Mexicans consume about 40 gallons a year, according to the industry, close to the amount in the United States. |
| At the market in Xochimilco, a Mexico City borough, Coke is simply everywhere, its red logo decorating tablecloths, refrigerators, handwritten display menus, even the walls. | At the market in Xochimilco, a Mexico City borough, Coke is simply everywhere, its red logo decorating tablecloths, refrigerators, handwritten display menus, even the walls. |
| “I think it’s like chile,” said Miriam Toledo, who runs a small restaurant. “Just like you can’t eat without spices, you can’t eat without a soft drink.” | “I think it’s like chile,” said Miriam Toledo, who runs a small restaurant. “Just like you can’t eat without spices, you can’t eat without a soft drink.” |
| Even in the afterlife, it’s essential. Joaquín Praxedis Quesada, an anthropologist who works for the borough, pointed out what families place on the altars to departed relatives on the Day of the Dead. “There are tamales, cookies, seasonal fruit — and a soft drink,” he said. “When a culture integrates soft drinks into the most sacred, which is its relationship with its ancestors, then they are part of its identity.” | |
| In recent years, officials have stepped in, limiting what schools could sell at recess, and putting Mexico City’s heaviest police officers on reduced-calorie diets. | |
| Opponents of the tax have bought newspaper ads to argue that the soda tax “demonizes” one cause of an epidemic that has many. Other ads warn that the tax could put 3.5 million jobs at risk, beginning with sugar-cane workers and the struggling owners of tens of thousands of mom-and-pop stores. | Opponents of the tax have bought newspaper ads to argue that the soda tax “demonizes” one cause of an epidemic that has many. Other ads warn that the tax could put 3.5 million jobs at risk, beginning with sugar-cane workers and the struggling owners of tens of thousands of mom-and-pop stores. |
| Mr. Rivera said everybody in the “production chain,” including the soft drink companies, had contributed to a fund to pay for the ads. | |
| Emilio Herrera, director of Anprac, the trade association representing the $15 billion soft drink industry here, said a tax would not do any public good because people would simply switch to homemade sweet drinks. The government has not “evaluated the collateral damage of this inefficient tax,” he said. | Emilio Herrera, director of Anprac, the trade association representing the $15 billion soft drink industry here, said a tax would not do any public good because people would simply switch to homemade sweet drinks. The government has not “evaluated the collateral damage of this inefficient tax,” he said. |
| Arantxa Colchero Aragonés, a researcher in the Health Economy department of Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health, estimated that a 10 percent tax would reduce sugary drink consumption by 10 to 13 percent, with enough people switching to water and milk to bring down overall rates of obesity. | Arantxa Colchero Aragonés, a researcher in the Health Economy department of Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health, estimated that a 10 percent tax would reduce sugary drink consumption by 10 to 13 percent, with enough people switching to water and milk to bring down overall rates of obesity. |
| “The industry is right that they aren’t the only guilty ones,” said Juan A. Rivera Dommarco, the director of the Center for Research and Nutrition at the institute. “But they do have part of the responsibility.” | |
| The government envisions a tax of about 7.7 cents per liter, which is half of what public health advocates would like. | The government envisions a tax of about 7.7 cents per liter, which is half of what public health advocates would like. |
| The soft drink industry argues that it is working to teach consumers how to control their weight, with Coca-Cola de México sponsoring a national high school soccer tournament. | The soft drink industry argues that it is working to teach consumers how to control their weight, with Coca-Cola de México sponsoring a national high school soccer tournament. |
| Still, many Mexicans say that soft drinks are far from harmless, though that does not mean they have summoned the strength to give them up. | Still, many Mexicans say that soft drinks are far from harmless, though that does not mean they have summoned the strength to give them up. |
| “We’re making the ones who are poisoning us rich,” said Isabel Valenzuela, 67, who drinks one or two soft drinks a day. “I curse it and drink it. They have me hooked.” | “We’re making the ones who are poisoning us rich,” said Isabel Valenzuela, 67, who drinks one or two soft drinks a day. “I curse it and drink it. They have me hooked.” |
| Agustin Rumayor, 48, a deliveryman sipping a Coke with lunch, agreed. “Maybe I would consider drinking less if the price goes up,” he said. “But you do need a lot of willpower.” | Agustin Rumayor, 48, a deliveryman sipping a Coke with lunch, agreed. “Maybe I would consider drinking less if the price goes up,” he said. “But you do need a lot of willpower.” |
| Rafael Venegas, 40, said he sells about $100 of soft drinks a day at his corner store in a working-class neighborhood of Mexico City, and although he dutifully put up the anti-tax sign his Coke distributor handed out, he doubts the tax would make a dent. | Rafael Venegas, 40, said he sells about $100 of soft drinks a day at his corner store in a working-class neighborhood of Mexico City, and although he dutifully put up the anti-tax sign his Coke distributor handed out, he doubts the tax would make a dent. |
| “People will continue to sell and buy Coca-Cola for the rest of our lives,” he said. “We have it in our DNA.” | “People will continue to sell and buy Coca-Cola for the rest of our lives,” he said. “We have it in our DNA.” |