MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti) - Ecuador may start taxing fast food to manage the country's growing obesity rates, President Rafael Correa said.
"People are dying from bad food, not a lack of food. People will stop eating so many McDonald's and Burger King hamburgers [with the tax]. This favors the production of our traditional gastronomy," The Independent cited Correa as saying.
Ecuador president's ruling alliance has the majority in Congress, which allows him to pass the legislation, and Correa is known for his antipathy for fast food chains.
"If you want to make yourself sick, that is your problem. We are in a free country. But those who deliberately affect your health, they should contribute a little more to the health care system to help you once you are ill" he said.
According to the data from the Health Ministry, 63 percent of people aged 19 to 59 and 30 percent of children aged five to 11 are overweight. The country has already introduced a "traffic light" labeling system, in which different colors indicate fat, sugar and salt levels in food products.
More than 1.5 billion adults globally are overweight or obese, according to the most recent report by the World Health Organization. Latin American countries are among the world's leaders in obesity because of the region's rapid economic and urban population growth.
