Published in El Pais, 15 September 2021.
Many large cities in Latin America report large numbers of overweight and obesity. Some of these figures show that over 40% of the adult population is overweight. What is happening in the big cities? Latin America as well as other developing countries is characterized by being the headquarters of the largest cities in the world. It is not an honor but a concern. This shows that governments are not strong enough to control urban growth and the population is smart enough to know that small cities have no sources of work or good living conditions, including, good education, health, transportation, etc. Many developed countries have managed to offer everyone equally, a good living condition and residents, normally prefer to live in a small place and away from large cities.
In the case of overweight, large cities are one of the main causes, how? Many green areas have been lost due to the excessive growth of the urban area. Going for a walk in a park or a forest has already become impossible without having to drive for at least an hour. Many cities are full and dangerous, children and young people do not enjoy the freedom to play in the streets or to ride bicycles. In fact, social gatherings with friends and family have morphed into gatherings at a restaurant or places to eat because so little can be done outdoors.
It is a bad idea to ride a bicycle in the city because of the high number of mobilities and more if you do not have a good traffic control for pedestrians, cyclists and cars. Not to mention the polluted air that is caused daily by the high amount of traffic. And the organizations where you work are not geared toward giving the worker a schedule where they can go home in time to cook something healthy and with the time to play sports. Jobs are in the world for the ones that consume the most hours (on average 8 to 10 hours a day) and when one goes out to rest it is in a comfortable chair while consuming purchased food, which again motivates weight gain.
It would be good to reconsider restructuring cities for healthier environments that promote sport and a healthy mind.
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