Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-08T19:07:10.090Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

ETHNICITY AND INCOME IMPACT ON BMI AND STATURE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN LIVING IN URBAN SOUTHERN MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2015

Nina Mendez*
Affiliation:
Regional Research Centre ‘Dr Hideyo Noguchi’, Biomedical Unit, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
The Late Mario Barrera-Pérez
Affiliation:
Regional Research Centre ‘Dr Hideyo Noguchi’, Biomedical Unit, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Marco Palma-Solis
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Autonomous University of Yucatan, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Jorge Zavala-Castro
Affiliation:
Regional Research Centre ‘Dr Hideyo Noguchi’, Biomedical Unit, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Federico Dickinson
Affiliation:
Centres for Research and Advanced Studies, Department of Human Ecology, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Hugo Azcorra
Affiliation:
Centres for Research and Advanced Studies, Department of Human Ecology, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Michael Prelip
Affiliation:
Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: nina.mendez@uady.mx

Summary

Obesity affects quality of life and increases the risk of morbidity and mortality. Mexico, a middle-income country, has a high prevalence of overweight and obesity among urban children. Merida is the most populated and growing city in southern Mexico with a mixed Mayan and non-Maya population. Local urbanization and access to industrialized foods have impacted the eating habits and physical activity of children, increasing the risk of overweight and obesity. This study aimed to contribute to the existing literature on the global prevalence of overweight and obesity and examined the association of parental income, ethnicity and nutritional status with body mass index (BMI) and height in primary school children in Merida. The heights and weights of 3243 children aged 6–12 from sixteen randomly selected schools in the city were collected between April and December 2012. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine differences in the prevalence of BMI and height categories (based on WHO reference values) by ethnicity and income levels. Of the total students, 1648 (50.9%) were overweight or obese. Stunting was found in 227 children (7%), while 755 (23.3%) were defined as having short stature. Combined stunting and overweight/obesity was found in 301 students (9.3%) and twelve (0.4%) were classified as stunted and of low weight. Having two Mayan surnames was inversely associated with having adequate height (OR=0.69, p<0.05) and the presence of two Maya surnames in children increased the odds of short stature and stunting. Children from lower income families had twice the odds of being stunted and obese. Overweight, obesity and short stature were frequent among the studied children. A significant proportion of Meridan children could face an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and its associated negative economic and social outcomes unless healthier habits are adopted. Action is needed to reduce the prevalence of obesity among southern Mexican families of all ethnic groups, particularly those of lower income.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Azcorra, H., Varela-Silva, M., Rodríguez, L., Bogin, B. & Dickinson, F. (2013a) Nutritional status of Maya children, their mothers, and their grandmothers residing in the city of Merida, Mexico: revisiting the leg-length hypothesis. American Journal of Human Biology 25(5), 659665.Google Scholar
Azcorra, H., Wilson, H., Bogin, B., Vazquez-Vazquez, A. & Dickinson, F. (2013b) Dietetic characteristics of a sample of Mayan dual burden households in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición 63(3), 209217.Google Scholar
Biles, J. J. (2004) Export-oriented industrialization and regional development: a case study of maquiladora production in Yucatán, México. Regional Studies 38(5), 517532.Google Scholar
Bogin, B., Azcorra, H., Vazquez-Vazquez, A., Avila, M., Castillo Burguete, M. T., Varela Silva, M. & Dickinson, F. (2014) Globalization and children’s diets: the case of Maya of Mexico and Central America. Anthropological Review 77(1), 1132.Google Scholar
Caro-Encalada, M. J. & Leyva-Morales, C. E. (2008) El cluster de la industria del software en Mérida [The cluster of the software industry in Merida], Yucatán. Contaduría y Administración 224, 137157.Google Scholar
Coordinación Mexicana de Yucatán (2010) Análisis Estratégico de la Zona Metropolitana de Mérida [Strategic Analysis of the Metropolitan Area of Mérida]. Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, Merida, Mexico.Google Scholar
Cruz, M. (2009) Diagnóstico sobre la realidad social, económica y cultural de los entornos locales para el diseño de intervenciones en materia de prevención y erradicación de la violencia en la Región sur: el caso de la zona metropolitana de Mérida, Yucatán [Diagnosis on the social reality, economic and cultural environments local for the design of interventions in prevention and eradication of violence in the Southern Region: the case of the metropolitan area of Mérida, Yucatán]. Comisión Nacional para Prevenir y Erradicar la Violencia contra las Mujeres Secretaría de Gobernación México.Google Scholar
De Onis, M. & Lobstein, T. (2010) Defining obesity risk status in the general childhood population: which cut-offs should we use? International Journal of Pediatric Obesity 5(6), 458460.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Onis, M., Martínez-Costa, C., Núnez, F., Nguefack-Tsague, G., Montal, A. & Brines, J. (2012) Association between WHO cut-offs for childhood overweight and obesity and cardiometabolic risk. Public Health Nutrition 1(1), 16.Google Scholar
Diggles, M. E. (2008) Popular Response to Neoliberal Reform: The Political Configuration of Property Rights in two Ejidos in Yucatan, Mexico. Doctoral Thesis, University of Oregon.Google Scholar
Freedman, D. S., Mei, Z., Srinivasan, S. R., Berenson, G. S. & Dietz, W. H. (2007) Cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Journal of Pediatrics 150(1), 1217.Google Scholar
García-Pérez, H., Harlow, S. D., Sampselle, C. M. & Denman, C. (2012) Measuring urinary incontinence in a population of women in northern Mexico: prevalence and severity. International Urogynecolology Journal 24(5), 847854.Google Scholar
García Gil, G., Oliva Peña, Y. & Ortiz Pech, R. (2012) Distribución espacial de la marginación urbana en la ciudad de Mérida, Yucatán, México. Geografía Humana 77, 89106.Google Scholar
García Gómez, C. & Ruiz Salazar, OTC (2011) La segregación territorial y el rezago en el sur de la ciudad de Mérida, como resultado del crecimiento urbano descontrolado . [The lag in the South of the city of Merida, as a result of the uncontrolled urban growth and territorial segregation]. Quivera 13, 122138.Google Scholar
Graniel, G., Morris, L. & Carrillo-Rivera, J. (1999) Effects of urbanization on groundwater resources of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Environmental Geology 37(4), 303312.Google Scholar
Grow, H. M. G., Cook, A. J., Arterburn, D. E., Saelens, B. E., Drewnowski, A. & Lozano, P. (2010) Child obesity associated with social disadvantage of children’s neighborhoods. Social Science & Medicine 71(3), 584.Google Scholar
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (2009) Perfil sociodemográfico de la población que habla lengua indígena [Socio-demographic profile of the population that speak indigenous languages]. Mexico DF, Mexico.Google Scholar
Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (2013) Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición 2012. Resultados por entidad federativa,Yucatán [National survey of health and nutrition 2012]. Cuernavaca, México.Google Scholar
Kaltmeier, O. (2011) Selling Ethnicity: Urban Cultural Politics in the Americas. Ashgate Publishing Company, Burlington, USA.Google Scholar
Krieger, N., Chen, J. T., Waterman, P. D., Rehkopf, D. H. & Subramanian, S. (2003) Race/ethnicity, gender, and monitoring socioeconomic gradients in health: a comparison of area-based socioeconomic measures – the public health disparities geocoding project. American Journal of Public Health 93(10), 16551671.Google Scholar
Kumanyika, S. K. (2008) Environmental influences on childhood obesity: ethnic and cultural influences in context. Physiology and Behavior 94(1), 6170.Google Scholar
Leatherman, T. L., Goodman, A. H. & Stillman, T. (2010) Changes in stature, weight, and nutritional status with tourism-based economic development in the Yucatan. Economics and Human Biology 8(2), 153158.Google Scholar
Lehnert, T., Sonntag, D., Konnopka, A., Riedel-Heller, S. & König, H-H. (2013) Economic costs of overweight and obesity. Best Practice & Research . Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 27, 105115.Google Scholar
Leroy, J. L., Gadsden, P., Rodríguez-Ramírez, S. & González-de-Cossío, T. (2010) Cash and in-kind transfers in poor rural communities in México increase household fruit, vegetable, and micronutrient consumption but also lead to excess energy consumption. Journal of Nutrition 140, 612617.Google Scholar
Lim, S. S., Vos, T., Flaxman, A. D., Danaei, G., Shibuya, K., Adair-Rohani, H. et al. (2013) A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet 380(9859), 22242260.Google Scholar
Lohman, T. G., Roche, A. F. & Martorell, R. (1991) Anthropometric Standardization Reference Manual. Human Kinetics Books, Champaign, III, Chicago, USA.Google Scholar
Lutz, W., Prieto, L. & Sanderson, W. (2000) Population, Development, and Environment on the Yucatán Peninsula. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Vienna, Austria.Google Scholar
McLorg, P.A. (2005) Anthropometric patterns in middle-aged and older rural Yucatec Maya women. Annals of Human Biology 32 (4), 487497.Google Scholar
Makkes, S., Montenegro-Bethancourt, G., Groeneveld, I. F., Doak, C. M. & Solomons, N. W. (2011) Beverage consumption and anthropometric outcomes among schoolchildren in Guatemala. Maternal Child Nutrition 7(4), 410420.Google Scholar
Mendez, N. (2013) Aspects of the family and school environment concerning habits food and physical activity associated with overweight among schoolchildren in Merida Yucatan. Doctoral Thesis, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan.Google Scholar
Monkkonen, P. (2010) Measuring Residential Segregation in Urban Mexico: Levels and Patterns. University of California at Berkeley Working Paper 2010-05.Google Scholar
Murasko, J. E. (2009) Socioeconomic status, height, and obesity in children. Economics and Human Biology 7(3), 376386.Google Scholar
Olaiz-Fernández, G., Rivera-Dommarco, J., Shamah-Levy, T. et al. (2006) Encuesta nacional de salud y nutrición 2006 [National survey of health and nutrition 2006]. Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, México.Google Scholar
Onis, M. D., Onyango, A. W., Borghi, E., Siyam, A., Nishida, C. & Siekmann, J. (2007) Development of a WHO growth reference for school-aged children and adolescents. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 85(9), 660667.Google Scholar
Osorio, J. (2011) Cardiovascular endocrinology: obesity-associated risk is reversible. Nature Reviews Endocrinology 8(2), 67.Google Scholar
Quiroz-Carranza, R. (2012) Aprendiendo a ser joven con derechos propios en condiciones de pobreza y exclusión social. Un estudio de caso en Mérida, Yucatán, México [Learning to be young and have rights in conditions of poverty and social exclusion. A case study in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico]. Second International Sociological Association Forum of Sociology, 1–4th August 2012.Google Scholar
Rogers, I., Metcalfe, C., Gunnell, D., Emmett, P., Dunger, D. & Holly, J. (2006) Insulin-like growth factor-I and growth in height, leg length, and trunk length between ages 5 and 10 years. Journal of Endocrinology & Metabolism 91(7), 25142519.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rtveladze, K., Marsh, T., Barquera, S., Romero, L. M. S., Levy, D., Melendez, G. et al. (2013) Obesity prevalence in Mexico: impact on health and economic burden. Public Health Nutrition 17(1), 233239.Google Scholar
Schulz, A. J., Kannan, S., Dvonch, J. T., Israel, B. A., Allen, A. III, James, S. A. et al. (2005) Social and physical environments and disparities in risk for cardiovascular disease: the healthy environments partnership conceptual model. Environmental Health Perspectives 113(12), 1817.Google Scholar
Secretaria de desarrollo social. (2010) Atlas de riesgos de peligros naturales del municipio de Mérida Yucatán, México [Atlas of risks from natural hazards of the municipality of Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.]. Municipality of Merida, Mexico.Google Scholar
SEEY. (2012) Catálogos y Estadísticas. Secretaría de Educación del Estado de Yucatán. URL: http://www.educacion.yucatan.gob.mx/ (accessed 3rd March 2012).Google Scholar
Smith, P. K., Bogin, B., Varela-Silva, M. I., Orden, B. & Loucky, J. (2002) Does immigration help or harm children’s health? The Mayan case. Social Science Quarterly 83(4), 9941002.Google Scholar
Sonneville, K. R., La Pelle, N., Taveras, E. M., Gillman, M. W. & Prosser, L. A. (2009) Economic and other barriers to adopting recommendations to prevent childhood obesity: results of a focus group study with parents. BMC Pediatrics 9(1), 81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, G. A., Singh, G. M., Lu, Y., Danaei, G., Lin, J. K., Finucane, M. M. et al. (2012) National, regional, and global trends in adult overweight and obesity prevalences. Population Health Metrics 10(1), 22.Google Scholar
Torres Ornelas, P., Evangelista-Salazar, J. J. & Martínez-Salgado, H. (2011) Coexistence of obesity and anemia in children between 2 and 18 years of age in Mexico. Boletín médico del Hospital Infantil de México 68(6), 431437.Google Scholar
Valencia Villalvazo, E. Y., Canto-Cetina, T., Romero Arauz, J. F., Coral-Vázquez, R. M., Canizales-Quinteros, S., Coronel, A. et al. (2012) Analysis of polymorphisms in interleukin-10, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist in Mexican-mestizo women with pre-eclampsia. Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers 16(11), 12631269.Google Scholar
Varela-Silva, M., Azcorra, H., Dickinson, F., Bogin, B. & Frisancho, A. (2009) Influence of maternal stature, pregnant age, and infant birth weight on growth during childhood in Yucatan, Mexico: a test of the intergenerational effects hypothesis. American Journal of Human Biology 21(5), 657663.Google Scholar
Varela-Silva, M., Dickinson, F., Wilson, H., Azcorra, H., Griffiths, P. & Bogin, B. (2012) The nutritional dual-burden in developing countries – how is it assessed and what are the health implications? Collegium Antropologicum 36(1).Google Scholar
Wang, N. A., Zhang, X., Xiang, Y-B., Yang, G., Li, H-L., Gao, J. et al. (2011) Associations of adult height and its components with mortality: a report from cohort studies of 135 000 Chinese women and men. International Journal of Epidemiology 40(6), 17151726.Google Scholar
Whitley, E., Martin, R. M., Davey Smith, G., Holly, J. M. & Gunnell, D. (2012) The association of childhood height, leg length and other measures of skeletal growth with adult cardiovascular disease: the Boyd–Orr cohort. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 66(1), 1823.Google Scholar
Wolañski, N., Dickinson, F., Siniarska, A. & Varela-Silva, M. I. (1993) Biological traits and living conditions of Maya Indian and non-Maya girls from Mérida, México. International Journal of Anthropology 8, 233246.Google Scholar