In Sweeping War on Obesity, Chile Slays Tony the Tiger

by Andrew Jacobs

The medical cost of obesity was 2.4 percent of all health care spending in Chile in 2016 and could rise to 4 percent by 2030. (Photo: Victor Ruiz Caballero/NYT)

The Chilean government, facing skyrocketing rates of obesity, is waging war on unhealthy foods with a phalanx of marketing restrictions, mandatory packaging redesigns and labeling rules aimed at transforming the eating habits of 18 million people. New regulations, which corporate interests delayed for almost a decade, require explicit labeling and limit the marketing of sugary foods to children.

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    For the past 40 years, since its founding in 1976, the mission of World Hunger Education Service is to undertake programs, including Hunger Notes, that
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