Promoting healthier diets in Montevideo

Since 2017, the municipal health department has been working with the Partnership for Healthy Cities on ways to improve the availability of healthy food for citizens. Most notably this included
restrictions on salt consumption. In 2018 the city issued a new decree requiring restaurants in Montevideo to have at least 10 percent of their menu contain food items with no added salt.

A healthy diet helps to protect against malnutrition in all forms, as well as noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer.¹ Yet in many countries, a lack of access to healthy food options, changing
lifestyles, rapid urbanization and increased production of processed foods can create environments where it’s hard to have a healthy diet. Many people now consume more foods high in energy, fats, free sugars and salt/sodium, which can increase
their risk of health problems, and do not eat enough fruit, vegetables and other dietary fibre such as whole grains.

In Uruguay, NCDs accounted for 85% of deaths in 2016.² The city of Montevideo has a long history of pursuing healthy food policies, reflecting a national commitment to promoting healthier diets. The country has several policies in place to
promote healthier diets, including a national target for sodium intake, but progress has been mixed. In recent years there has also been a noticeable increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods with high levels of calories, fats, sugar and
salt.

Following the…