People and Environment

THE BUSINESS CONCEPT IS BASED ON OFFERING HEALTHY FOOD.

WHY?

O.K, Good for you. Good for the planet!!!

PEOPLE

Currently in Colombia, 36.2% of the population is overweight and 21.3% is obese. One of the causes is the consumption of fast food, which contains considerable levels of saturated fats, original meat derivatives, colourings, artificial flavours, among others.
In the year 2019 in Colombia, $ 96'000.000.000 USD Millions were sold in fast foods and so far in 2023 an average of 44.473 hamburgers have been sold daily.

Landgeist.com

The southern part of South America is clearly more obese than the rest of the continent. The most obese country in South America is Argentina, where 28.3% of the population is obese. Chile comes in second, with 28% of its population being obese. Uruguay is third, with 27.9%. The lowest obesity rates can be found in Peru (19.7%), Ecuador (19.9%) and Bolivia and Guyana (20.2%).

How do these numbers compare to other countries around the world? The whole global top 10 is in the Pacific, with Nauru being the highest (61%). The highest outside the top 10 are Kuwait (37.9%) and the US (36.2%). Argentina ranks 30th globally, Chile 32nd and the Uruguay 33rd. The lowest is Vietnam, where only 2.1% of the adult population is obese. Curious about obesity rates in other continents? I’ve made maps about obesity rates before for Europe and Asia and the US.

Obesity and overweight take years of healthy life and generate significant costs to the system, society and families: concludes a study presented by UNICEF Colombia between 2015 and 2022.

Overweight and obesity are not only measured in kilos or body mass indexes, they are also reflected in the years of healthy life a person loses and in increased costs to health systems and families' pockets. When these conditions are present, there is an increase in medical disabilities, hospitalisations, doctor visits, as well as direct impacts on quality of life.

Increased economic costs. These problems associated with malnutrition result in economic costs to the health system, society and families. According to the report, the economic burden of overweight and obesity and associated diseases in children, adolescents and pregnant women in Colombia averages 2.4 trillion pesos per year and consists of three basic components: direct medical costs, indirect costs and out-of-pocket expenses.

Direct medical costs are the largest economic burden in the case of overweight and obese pregnant women: the Colombian health system assumes about 74,610 million pesos per year. In the case of children and adolescents, this amount is 3,694 million pesos per year.

The economic impact on families is also important because very often they have to assume out-of-pocket expenses (medicines, procedures and consultations not included in the compulsory health plan, as well as transport for medical appointments, payment of caregivers, accommodation, etc.). These correspond to 57,128 million pesos per year for pregnant women and 7,412 million pesos per year for children and adolescents who are overweight or obese. In other words, each year the family must spend an average of 2.5 million pesos of its own income. Not to be left out is the economic burden on society associated with reduced productivity and family income due to absenteeism from work and loss of future income due to premature death. These are estimated at 569 million pesos per year due to overweight and obesity in children and adolescents, and 27,132 million pesos per year in pregnant women.

Early prevention of obesity and overweight from gestation is essential, with adequate nutrition for the mother, and the promotion of healthy environments that discourage the consumption of ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks that are poor in nutrients and that encourage physical activity. The influence of advertising for ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks to which children and adolescents are exposed must also be taken into account.

ENVIRONMENT

Adding plant-based proteins to our diet can have a surprisingly significant impact on the environment, the climate and ourselves. We've been on this plant-based journey since before 2022. At MCM Colombian food® we believe that making tasty, nutritious and environmentally friendly food choices is a delicious way to care for our families and the planet.

Our independent Life Cycle Analysis study showed that simply switching from meat to delicious plant-based protein from MCM Colombian Food® will generate significantly less greenhouse gas emissions and use less water and land. You read that right, relying on plants can result in huge resource savings. How much exactly? That's the fun part.