Sunday, November 4, 2012

Day of the Dead hits home in Mexico - Video










Nov. 01 - As Mexicans prepare to mark the traditional Day of the Dead holiday, health activists join in with their own altar to protest the country's deadly obesity rate. Tara Cleary reports. Grisly creations to celebrate the "Day of the Dead". The festival combines Aztec and Mayan rituals with Catholic rites. But some Mexicans think the event is under threat from American Halloween traditions. SOUNDBITE: Rosaria Flores, Day of the Dead participant, saying (Spanish): "Many young adults say 'Yeah, Day of the Dead' and they see it as Halloween but it's not Halloween. It's Day of the Dead, an ancestral celebration, so it needs to be seen as the Day of the Dead festival." Another U.S. export which has activists worried is the sugary carbonated drink - of which Mexicans reportedly consume enormous amounts, says protester Kafia Garcia. SOUNDBITE: Kafia Garcia, Day of the Dead participant, saying (Spanish): "In the last six years there were 500,000 deaths from diabetes. This is the product of a great consumption of soft drinks in Mexico." According to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, Mexico is second only to the United States for the world's highest rate of obesity in adults. And Garcia thinks this festival is the perfect time for fellow Mexicans to consider their own mortality.



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