New tax in Ecuador targets US fast food chains, obesity

Last year, Mexico made headlines worldwide when it surpassed the U.S. as the fattest developed country in the globe, yet it’s not the only Latin American country to struggle with obesity—Ecuador’s citizens are also suffering from poor nutrition choices, and its president is taking a stand.

SEE ALSO: Mexico restricts junk food, soft drink ads to reduce obesity

Ecuador’s leftist president, Rafael Correa, aims to combat the rising obesity rate in his country by taxing fast-food chains, particularly US-owned chains that have long been known to expand waist lines and cause a myriad of health problems.

“People are dying from bad food, not a lack of food,” Correa told local journalists, “People with stop eating so many McDonald’s and Burger King Hamburgers [with this tax].”

According to “The Independent,” Correa’s plans for the levy have yet to be outlined for the public, but because of his large ruling alliance in Congress, it’s likely that his legislation will pass with minimal changes.

Correa’s crackdown on American eating establishments in Ecuador has some people raising their brows, as the Ecuadorian president has become well known for his anti-American rhetoric since taking office in 2007 (and for giving the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum for nearly two years). Skeptics see the tax as yet another dig at the US.

However, Correa clarified that while the purpose of the tax is to staunch the growing obesity in the country, he cannot stop Ecuadorians from eating Big Macs and McNuggets if they want to.

“If you want to make yourself sick, that is your problem,” he said. “We are in a free country. But those who deliberately affect your health, they should contribute a little more to the healthcare system to help you once you are ill.”

Ecuador may not be amongst the top 10 fattest countries in the world yet?Mexico and the US are the current frontrunners?but the obesity rate in much of Latin America is rising rapidly.

According to the Health Ministry, 63 percent of people between the ages of 19 and 59 are overweight, while 30 percent of children are overweight.

To combat this serious heath issue, other Latin American countries have taken similar measures to that of Ecuador. Mexico passed a tax on sugary drinks to curb soda consumption; Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Peru have banned junk food from schools to reduce the childhood obesity rate, and both Chile and Brazil are also considering taxing unhealthy foods.

SEE ALSO: Mexico’s growing obesity problem

Correa’s new “junk food tax” may indeed deter people from eating at one of the country’s 26 McDonald’s and 15 Burger Kings, but it wouldn’t have any effect on the numerous family-owned eateries and street stands that also sell their fair share of artery-clogging fast food.