Published July 7, 2009

I witnessed this firsthand Thursday as I was waiting to conduct an interview with the mayor of Santa Lucia. I ran into a nearby store as six school girls entered, excitedly talking after finishing an exam. Each picked out several small candies to enjoy while they sat in the town square. Cases of candy were displayed in the front of the store, with the more expensive breads, fruit and vegetables stocked on the back shelves.Dr. Peggy Bentley also noticed this sugar obsession while she was here monitoring the progress of the nutrition project."If you go to the stores here in Honduras, in these small villages, what do you see? Coca-cola, Pepsi, Tang, fritos, all kinds of sweets and candies," she said. "So at the same time the children don’t have access to a high quality diet, they do have access to very cheap, inexpensive junk food."Learn more about Tracy's project Honduras: Fighting Malnutrition 'Shoulder to Shoulder'
See Tracy's other dispatches