Food, nutrition, and the urban poor

Catalina, gracias por el comentario, tienes toda la razón sobre la problemática que planteas. El Gobierno del Distrito Federal afirma que la Ciudad de México, es hogar de los niños con más sobrepeso y obesidad del país. Una de las razones detrás de esto son los hábitos de consumo, pero que además afecta en mayor medida a la población más vulnerable respecto a la educación y recursos económicos. Por ejemplo, un estudio del Consejo Nacional de la Raza (NCLR) en Estados Unidos, demostró que los niños latinos viviendo en hogares con muy poca seguridad alimentaria son el 61 por ciento más propensos a tener sobrepeso que los niños que viven en hogares en condiciones alimentarias más favorables; puesto que las familias adoptan estrategias para administrar el presupuesto al adquirir alimentos de bajo costo y con alto contenido calórico para satisfacer su hambre.
En este sentido, diversas estrategias se están implementando en la ciudad en alianza con diversos actores. Una de ellas es el programa piloto de “11 jugadas por la salud” implementado por la FIFA, la Federación Mexicana de Fútbol (FEMEXFUT) y la Secretaría de Salud del Gobierno Federal. El objetivo es promover hábitos saludables en los niños y jóvenes a través de sesiones de fútbol en escuelas públicas y privadas, que enseñan habilidades de fútbol acompañadas de once mensajes de salud. De esta manera comprometen a los niños a involucrarse en una actividad física y cambiar estilos de vida. Así mismo, durante los partidos de la liga de fútbol mexicana, se establecen stands en los estadios que miden el índice de la masa corporal y el peso de los aficionados que asisten al partido para informar sobre el rango en que se encuentra su estado de salud.
Otro ejemplo es la regulación por parte del Gobierno Federal sobre el contenido de azúcares y calorías en los alimentos a la venta en escuelas primarias y secundarias, los productos no deben de rebasar 130 calorías por porción así como la prohibición de bebidas gaseosas en los establecimientos.
Por parte de la sociedad civil, la Fundación Mídete emplea campamentos urbanos en los barrios y colonias del DF, en el cual se desarrollan espacios para que los niños cuenten con apoyo de especialistas en nutrición, pedagogía actividades físicas y de salud. Se busca desarrollar hábitos de consumo saludables a través de actividades lúdicas y talleres, así como de la provisión de alimentación sana y nutritiva a bajo costo.
En México es un tema preocupante que ha llamado la atención de gobiernos, organizaciones y de los consumidores por lo que han surgido diversas estrategias desde varios frentes.

Catalina thanks for the comment, the issues you raise are very important. The Federal District Government claims that Mexico City has more children with overweight and obesity than other state in the country. One of the reasons behind this is consumption habits that affect more to the most vulnerable population. For example, a study by the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) in the United States, showed that Latino children living in households with very low food security are 61 percent more likely to be overweight than children living in homes in more favorable food, since families adopt strategies to manage the budget to buy inexpensive foods and high-calorie to satisfy their hunger.
In this regard, various strategies are being implemented in the city in partnership with various stakeholders. One is the pilot "11 plays for Health" implemented by FIFA, the Mexican Football Federation (FEMEXFUT) and the Ministry of Health of the Federal Government. The aim is to promote healthy habits in children and young people through football sessions in public and private schools that teach soccer skills accompanied by eleven health messages. In this way the children undertake to engage in physical activity and change lifestyles. Also, during games of Mexican football league, the government establishes stands in the football stadiums that measure body mass index and weight of the fans attending the game in order to inform their health status.
Another example is the regulation by the Federal Government on the content of sugar and calories in food sales in elementary and secondary schools, products should not exceed 130 calories per serving and the banning of soft drinks in establishments.
From the civil society, the Foundation “Mídete” employs urban camps in the neighborhoods of the City in which they develop spaces for children to have support from nutritionists, physical education and health activities. It seeks to develop healthy habits through fun activities and workshops, as well as the provision of safe and nutritious food at low cost.
In Mexico it is a concern that has caught the attention of governments, organizations and consumers, in this sense various strategies have emerged from several fronts.

It's sad seeing that in Mexico City has more children with obesity and overweight, while in the other side of the globe there are thousands of children with hunger and malnutrition. I think we all agree that healthy and nutritious food should be provide every day, especially for the children. And to make that happened, we need a good cooperation between the government, NGOs and the society. The children is the future of the nations, so we should do the work to make it happen and create the sustainable development.

Catalina, I loved that there is a book on favela food--another reason to come explore Rio soon! It seems to me, though, that while it's great that there is such a variety of (healthy) choices, can the poor--the very poor--really afford to eat at restaurants? I'm thinking about Mumbai, for example, where the poor survive off of very basic vegetarian food, mostly lentils, vegetables and rice. The immediate difference is that the Indian diet is mostly vegetarian, though often once a week or so, the poor might have some sort of meat. While their basic food is actually quite healthy and tasty, it is also very inexpensive and nearly all families cook at home. The restaurants in the slums are often for the men, laborers who are either living in the city on their own or who are working during the day far from their families. Even then, they likely have a "tiffin," which is a homemade lunch that is delivered by dabbahwallahs (tiffin delivery men). They pick up the thousands of homemade lunches at home each day and deliver them (with an incredible accuracy rate!) to workers throughout the city. They were even the subject of a Harvard Business School study! http://hbr.org/product/a/an/904D11-PDF-ENG?cm_sp=doi-_-case-_-904D11-PDF...

I guess I'm curious to know who is eating at the restaurants in Rio's favelas? Is there a lot of economic stratification within Rio's slums?

Similarly to Rio, Nairobi informal settlements and poor neighbourhoods abound with cheap places where people can get a plate of ugali (maize meal), cabbage, rice and beans, meat stew or grilled meat (often off-cuts, entrails and other animal parts that do not find their ways into more up-market establishments). By and large it is possible to get something to eat off the street for under a dollar. Because of this, single people (i.e. people who do not have a whole family to cook for) will almost always eat out. It is far cheaper to do so than to invest in buying a stove, charcoal and all the separate ingredients that one needs to be able to cook something.
There have been a few initiatives that have focussed on creating community kitchens in Kibera but to the best of my knowledge these have yet to become a big success.
The idea of producing a book that identified the best little eateries across Nairobi did cross my mind a few years ago but the limited variety of food on offer slightly dampened my enthusiasm. However if you were to ask me where the best place to eat in Kibera slum was, I would not hesitate to point you in the direction of Arusha Foods which offers the best meat stews (the liver is particularly nice) and chapatis in the whole area (and for a large plate with everything on it you would pay little more than a dollar).

Catalina, that is a wonderful idea of a book to be written. It was handy and I hope that people living in favelas are able to buy the book and try out those restaurants. May I know if it is cultural thing where people in favelas enjoy dining out at the restaurant? Isn’t it cheaper for them to cook? I really interested because in case of people who live in poor neighborhood in Indonesia prefer to cook which is cheaper as they bought ingredients from traditional market, even though now traditional market face challenge as many mini markets show up with better over of shopping experience. But it’s totally different issue.

I am also surprised that obesity and overweight becomes an issue in Mexico especially for the vulnerable population. If I compare to Indonesia, again, junk food such as Mac* or Burger K* are only affordable for mid to high-income families. It is a totally different situation from which these foods came from. So there is small chance that children from poor family will eat this. But at the moment, mid income family in Indonesia is bigger and this lifestyle (who thinks that eat at junk food restaurant is cool) is growing and growing, and I am afraid in coming years Indonesian kids will also experience overweight problems. I think my government should learn from Mexico on how to handle this problem.

Carlin, I really like the idea of mobile food program. It is wonderful idea and I would like you to elaborate more like how many times in a week this truck serve food? Or how many employee they have and how it works? Or do they provide food to all children or just some of them? I had involved in some government program providing better nutrition for school children in remote and poor area. The fund was from government. It was running for three years and when it was done, people do not know what to do because they don't have fund to continue and the government, I must say that their weakness is that they don't think about the sustainability of the program. So, I was wondering what happen with school lunch program in India? Does it has long term plan after the project end? Maybe Carlin could update me with this. thanks