Sugary drinks' impact on lower income countries
Findings from a global analysis in Nature Medicine have found that sugary drink consumption is responsible for millions of new diabetes and heart disease cases around the world. Low- to middle-income countries are seeing the largest increases, especially in parts of Latin America and Africa.
Colombia, Mexico, and South Africa are the most impacted, due in large part to social media marketing. Dr. Catherine Kanari says online influencers fuel the drinks’ rise in popularity and “...young people are targeted by social media influencers that are paid to promote branded sugary drinks to them, filling an information gap left by the lack of school-based nutrition education.” Dr. Kanari fears the rapidly rising rates of diabetes will strain health systems beyond their limits.
What to do about this growing crisis? The study’s authors recommend interventions like public health campaigns, regulating advertising, and adding higher taxes on sugary drinks. Between the manufacturer’s targeted advertising and the drinks’ drug-like effects on the brain, changing people’s behavior and reversing this alarming trend may be an uphill battle.
Learn more about the study’s findings and the impacted countries in this article from The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/06/global-health...
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Slipstream
These sugary drinks are addictive and give you a false high. Of course, the poor are perfect targets because drinking these beverages makes them feel happier, at least in the moment. This article is more proof that corporations are soulless—it's all about the bottom line for them.
Evangel
These countries most likely have state-funded, free health care. So to keeps those costs down, it makes sense to add the tax and have public service messaging. I remember when I was five years old and living in Ecuador hearing Pepsi Cola radio ads. The tagline was always: "Pepsi Cola, nada más!"—as if you didn't need anything more than a refreshing can of Pepsi.