The southern Mexican state of Oaxaca has banned the sale of sugary drinks and high-calorie snack foods to children in a bid to curb obesity in Mexico.

Oaxaca’s Congress recently approved the measure, which aims to improve child health due to the high rates of diabetes and obesity in Mexico.

“It’s important to finally put the brakes on this industry, which has already sickened our country and our children,” said Magaly López Domínguez, the Oaxaca lawmaker who presented the bill more than a year ago.

“[The industry] gets into the most remote corners of the state” – known for its mountainous topography – “where there’s often not even medicines, but there’s Coca-Cola.”

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She added:

“This health emergency makes it even more evident the damage caused by the consumption of these sugary drinks,” López Dominguez said. “Its approval was timely.”

Mexicans have long struggled with high rates of obesity and diabetes, which, for children, are among the highest in the world