This little-known small town in Texas has a big problem.
McAllen is the most obese city in America, with nearly eight in 10 adults obese or overweight.
Among all cities in the United States, it also has the second highest proportion of obese adolescents and the second highest proportion of obese children.
As a result, there has been an explosion in weight-related diabetes, heart disease and cancers in recent years.
Now a revealing documentary has shed light on the epidemic plaguing this border town and the twisted marketing tactics used by junk food makers to lure locals into eating themselves to death.
In one scene, the filmmakers of the YouTube channel Yes theory, sit down with McAllen resident Alejandra, who weighed 270 pounds.
“At the age of 28…my organs were starting to malfunction and they (the doctors) gave me about five good years and after that they didn’t know how things were going to go for me.”
Like many McAllen residents, Alejandra — who doesn’t give her last name — grew up in Mexico, just 10 miles away.
An eye-opening documentary delves into America’s fattest city, with residents revealing the health issues they face.
Yes Theory YouTube channel Ammar Kandil and Staffan Taylor landed in McAllen, Texas, which has repeatedly been named the most obese city in the country.
She reveals she started gaining weight as a child after stuffing herself with unhealthy school meals like pizza, chicken, nuggets and burgers.
As a child in her home country, Alejandra said she grew up on her mother and grandmother’s cooking and “never ate processed food.”
But in the United States, while she was forced to eat free school meals, her addiction to fast food grew.
She said: ‘FFrom first to fifth grade, I gained weight.
Alejandra doesn’t reveal how she managed to lose weight but in the documentary she appears healthier.
When asked why obesity is so high in McAllen, Alejandra says it’s largely because it’s a very poor community, with fast food being the most affordable way to satisfy the feeling of obesity. hunger.
In 2024, the poverty rate in McAllen, which has a population of about 146,000 and is located along the southeastern part of the Rio Grande Valley, was just under 21 percent, about twice the rate. national average.
Alejandra reveals that at the end of each month, when people are “running out of money,” all the fast food restaurants in McAllen advertise specials with “25 cent wings on Wednesday (or) 50 cent tacos on Tuesday “.
At an iHop creperie where the Yes Theory crew stops, she sees a sign promoting free meals for kids during happy hour.
A report last year found that more than 8 in 10 residents in the small metropolis are obese or overweight, and diabetes and heart disease are common.
At an iHop creperie where the Yes Theory crew stops, she sees a sign promoting free meals for kids during happy hour.
Expressing his outrage over this, filmmaker Ammar said: “Tthe hat is so sick. I am thinking about how manipulative that is. (If) you’re a mom or dad and you don’t have a lot (of money) to support your family, of course you’re going to come here.
‘It is that’s evil of you, you use people’s situation to just grab a family and make them come spend money here.
About 45 percent of adults over 18 in McAllen are obese, compared to 40 percent nationally, and an additional 31 percent of McAllen residents are overweight.
This brings the proportion of overweight adults to 76 percent.
As they drive through town, Ammar says that in one area he has six fast-food restaurants within a two-block radius.
Many McAllen residents grew up in Mexico, with the country’s border being just 10 miles away.
After exploring McAllen, the filmmakers say they believe the fast food problem is not only specific to the city but is a problem plaguing the country.
Like Alejandra, other McAllen residents say easy access to fast food is a big problem.
One woman the Yes Theory team spoke to at a grocery store said it’s hard to escape the drive-thru in the city, but she’s trying to cook more at home for the sake of her children.
A man who also wanders the aisles explains that buying produce at the grocery store isn’t much better than fast food, because in the United States, many products are ultra-processed.
While pointing to a box of Cheerios in the cereal aisle, he explains, “Yes.You put a little heart on (the box) people are just assuming it’s healthy and that’s not really the case because the moment you put a little sugar on it or something icy… it’s not healthy, it doesn’t have any ‘importance.
“(Even) if you eat Cheerios regularly…they still put all that sugar in your body.”
One and a half cups of Original Cheerios contains 2g of sugar, while the same serving of Honey Nut flavor contains 18g.
In one scene, the filmmakers sit down with McAllen resident Alejandra, who reveals that she started gaining weight after gorging on unhealthy free meals at school.
As they drive across town, the Yes Theory team counts six fast-food restaurants within a two-block radius.
The man in the film, who is not named, says buying healthier products also costs more, so many McAllen residents “are constrained by price tags.”
He adds: “When you’re living paycheck to paycheck, sometimes it’s not possible to get healthier products.”
Medical student Surya Namboodiri is a McAllen resident who has more knowledge about diet.
But she tells the Yes Theory team that her awareness didn’t come from school and that it’s something she had to educate herself on.
Buying produce at the grocery store isn’t much better than fast food, as many products in the United States are ultra-processed.
“You put a little heart on (the box), people just assume it’s healthy,” one McAllen resident said of some breakfast cereals.
She reveals: “Nutrition is basically not part of our school curriculum. Maybe we get one to two hours throughout our four years of medical training.
It’s this lack of education, Ms. Namboodiri said, that is fueling obesity in McAllen.
She adds: “IIt’s not fair to point the finger at people and say “why don’t you do this, why do you let these bad habits control your life?”
“It’s not just their personal choice in this matter, it’s also about infrastructure (and) lack of access to these healthier food options.
“We’re also not doing our part and educating people about what an unhealthy diet even looks like. If I just say, “Oh, you need to eat healthier,” they don’t know what that looks like. They just know what they ate growing up.
A man in the film, who is not named, says buying healthier products also costs more, so many McAllen residents “are constrained by price tags.”
A box of corn dogs at the grocery store is touted as a good source of protein
After exploring McAllen, the filmmakers say they believe the fast food problem is not just specific to the city but is a problem that affects the entire country.
Ammar concludes: “WWhen we had the idea to investigate McAllen, we thought there was something unique about this city.
“But after talking to residents and dissecting the problem with experts, we slowly realized that this was not a McAllen problem, but an American problem, one that had infiltrated every cities across the country.”
“But what we also learned from this experience is that for those who struggle with weight issues, there is hope.”
“By learning about the systems in place and educating ourselves on how we can improve our diet and well-being, we can break the unhealthy cycle we seem to be stuck in and regain control of our quality of life. »
