Costa Rica promotes together with the FAO the fight against overweight and obesity
The Costa Rican Ministry of Health, together with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is promoting actions to fight obesity and overweight in the country, an official source reported today.
The efforts respond to the letter of commitment signed during the Costa Rican Government Council held on October 16 in commemoration of the World Food Day, as well as the Declaration of the Sustainable Development Goals stipulated in the 2030 Agenda.
"As part of these commitments, a process is developed that promotes the efficient management of the governance of the country's policies related to nutritional food security and malnutrition in childhood and adolescence, with the aim of strengthening capacities in cooperation and exchange," said the Coordinator Resident of the FAO in Costa Rica, Octavio Ramírez.
The information was given on Monday, after last week's data revealed the last School Weight and Height Survey (2016), which indicate a prevalence of undernutrition of 2 percent in students from 6 to 12 years of age, as well as as 20.3 percent who presented overweight and 14.2 percent obesity.
For the authorities, the causes and factors that cause overweight and obesity are so complex and multidimensional that they require the participation and commitment of the majority of possible social actors in the fields of health, education, agriculture, social protection, environment, culture, tourism, investment, sports, recreation, academia and others.
"This impulse of the Ministry of Health and the FAO, for the intersectoral articulation, identification and grouping of joint actions is just a sample of the country's commitment, to combat overweight, obesity and noncommunicable diseases," said the Deputy Minister of Health, Alejandra Acuña
As part of the planning instruments to analyze the situation related to overweight and obesity, Costa Rica uses for the first time the CAN Tool (Compendium of Nutrition Actions), whose results will serve to establish public policies.
