A TAX ON “sweet drinks” and restrictions on the advertising and sale of junk foods are among the measures Barbados can use to reduce its high incidence of lifestyle diseases, including diabetes.
Opposition MP Kerrie Symmonds made this suggestion in the House of Assembly yesterday as the debate on the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the financial year 2015-16 continued.
He said Government should follow the lead of a number of Latin American nations, including Chile, Mexico and Argentina, to address the problem of chronic non-communicable diseases which were “demolishing” their citizens.
“In Mexico, legislation has been passed to stop the sale of so-called junk food, the fast food, hamburgers, hotdogs etcetera, etcetera, the salted chips in schools
or within a quarter-mile of a school,” Symmonds reported. (TY)
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