If you're someone who blames a lack of exercise on a lack of time, then you might want to relocate to Mexico City. In a new strategy to combat the country's obesity epidemic, officials in Mexico's capital are offering free subway rides for anyone who can do 10 squats. The government has set up 30 stations with machines that dispense free ride tickets to anyone who completes the squats. The thinking isn't that such light exercise will melt away the pounds, but that it will encourage healthier habits, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, for example. For the record, the 10-squat requirement is a considerably better deal than a similar effort attempted in Russia before the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. At the lone station offering the promotion-- Vystavochnaya, in western Moscow -- commuters were offered a free ride if they could manage 30 squats in two minutes.
The obesity epidemic:
- Over 2 billion people around the world -- or more than a quarter of the world's population -- are overweight or obese.
- As of 2018, West Virginia had the highest obesity rate among U.S. states, at 38.1% of its adult population.
- In the United States, as many as 40% of cancer diagnoses are related to weight.