In Town With Little Water, Coca-Cola Is Everywhere. So Is Diabetes.

Photo: A stream in San Cristóbal de las Casas, which residents claim is contaminated with sewage. Potable water is scarce in the town. Editor’s note: h2oIQ.org focuses on USA water issues, but we know San Cristóbal well as one of the most beautiful little cities we’ve ever seen. Its people are wise in traditional, indigenous ways but when the public water supply fails… one does what one must, and bears the consequences.

SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico — Maria del Carmen Abadía lives in one of Mexico’s rainiest regions, but she has running water only once every two days. When it does trickle from her tap, the water is so heavily chlorinated, she said, it’s undrinkable.

Potable water is increasingly scarce in San Cristóbal de las Casas, a picturesque mountain town in the southeastern state of Chiapas where some neighborhoods have running water just a few times a week, and many households are forced to buy extra water from tanker trucks. So, many residents drink Coca-Cola, which is produced by a local bottling plant, can be easier to find than bottled water and is almost as cheap.

In a country that is among the world’s top consumers of sugary drinks, Chiapas is a champion: Residents of San Cristóbal and the lush highlands that envelop the city drink on average more than two liters, or more than half a gallon, of soda a day. The effect on public health has been devastating.

The mortality rate from diabetes in Chiapas […]

Full article: In Town With Little Water, Coca-Cola Is Everywhere. So Is Diabetes.

More about soda drinks and water:

Bottled water overtakes soda as America’s No. 1 drink — and you should avoid both

Coca-Cola Sucks Wells Dry in Chiapas, Forcing Residents to Buy Water

Coke and Pepsi, gardening together in Mexico’s mountains to preserve urban water