title: Obesity Prevention in Latin America.
abstract: In Latin American countries, obesity prevalence has increased significantly as a result of rapid urbanization and an improvement in socioeconomic conditions. We report the prevalence of overweight and/or obesity and prevention efforts in five countries: Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile. In children, the highest and lowest rates of obesity are found in Chile (23 % in 6-year-olds) and Peru (1.8 % in those <5 years), respectively. In adults, Mexico and Chile present similar high rates of obesity (around 35 %), whereas in Brazil and Colombia, the rates are around 20 % and 16.5 %, respectively. In general, the highest prevalence occurs in low-income women. Every country has developed initiatives to target obesity, from the government to the private sector and academia, mainly at the health sector and school settings. Food labeling is being addressed, but has not been implemented yet. Two interventions are described, a community-based in Mexico and a school-based in Chile. Because the increase in chronic diseases, especially diabetes, has paralleled that of obesity, effective prevention efforts are urgently needed.
authors.affiliation: University of Chile, Santiago, Chile. jkain@inta.uchile.cl.
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kain
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico. cordero@insp.mx.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hernández Cordero
authors.affiliation: Grupo Éxito, Medellín, Colombia. diana.pinedaruiz@grupo-exito.com.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pineda
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. augustocesar.demoraes@usp.br.
authors.forename: Augusto Ferreira
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: de Moraes
authors.affiliation: Centro de Excelencia en Enfermedades Crónicas, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru. daniel.antiporta.p@upch.pe.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Antiporta
authors.affiliation: Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. tatiana.scollese@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Collese
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. elsie@centerlink.com.br.
authors.forename: Elsie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Costa de Oliveira Forkert
authors.affiliation: University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia. lgonzal97@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Centro de Excelencia en Enfermedades Crónicas, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru. mirandajj@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Juan Jaime
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico. jrivera@insp.mx.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rivera
keywords: Latin America; Obesity; Prevention