Doctors in Mexico will be prescribing a healthy dose of exercise along with medicines this summer.

In a program scheduled to run June 2 through July 26 at 2,414 Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social (IMSS) clinics and hospitals, health professionals will offer nutritional advice in the hope that overweight Mexicans can collectively lose one million kilograms. 

“The idea is for each person to sign up at the special IMSS modules, where they will have their height and weight taken, receive nutritional advice and strict medical control on a weekly basis,” a senior IMSS official said at the launch of the program.

Reality television crews will record the efforts of around 1,500 people participating in the seven-week program, which is called “Vamos por un millon de kilos” (We’re going for a million kilos).

Seven out of ten Mexicans have difficulty controlling their weight, according to the IMSS.  Obesity is one of the major reasons for the dramatic rise in diabetes in Mexico, health experts say. Obesity costs the IMSS around 35 million dollars a year. 

“It’s more and more common to see children of seven or eight weighing 60 kilos,” a nutritionist told local Spanish-language daily Publico.

More than four million children aged between five and 11 in Mexico are considered overweight.

Some health experts believe Mexico could lead the world in overweight citizens within a decade if there isn’t a dramatic change back to a national diet based on corn, beans, fruit, vegetables and traditional meats.

The modern Mexican diet contains too much protein and saturated fats and too little fiber, vitamins and minerals, nutritionists say.

Nutritionists also blame the culture of overeating for Mexico’s obesity problems, especially during prolonged holiday periods. It is estimated that Mexicans put on an average of three kilos each year between December 12 and January 6.

Just over half of Mexico’s population of 108 million people are enrolled in the IMSS.