Premium
Overweight and obesity in a rural amerindian population in Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, 1968–2000
Author(s) -
Malina Robert M.,
Reyes Maria Eugenia Peña,
Tan Swee Kheng,
Buschang Peter H.,
Little Bertis B.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/ajhb.20622
Subject(s) - overweight , obesity , geography , rural population , demography , population , environmental health , medicine , sociology
The purpose of this study was to evaluate secular change in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a rural Zapotec Indian community in southern Mexico between 1968 and 2000. Cross‐sectional surveys of children 6–13 years, adolescents 13–17 years, and adults 19 years of age and older resident in a rural community in Oaxaca were conducted in 1968/1971, 1978, and 2000. Individuals present in the 1968, 1978, and 2000 surveys provided a small longitudinal component. Height and weight were measured; the BMI was calculated. International criteria for overweight and obesity were used. Overweight and obesity were virtually absent in school children 6–13 years in 1968 and 1978 and in adolescents in 1978. Small proportions of children (boys, 5%; girls, 8%) and adolescents (boys, 3%; girls, 15%) were overweight in 2000; two children (1%) and no adolescents were obese. Among adults, 7% of males and 19% of females were overweight and <1% of males and 4% of females were obese in 1971/1978, but 46% of males and 47% of females were overweight; and 5% of males and 14% of females were obese in 2000. The trends for children, adolescents, and adults were confirmed in the longitudinal subsamples. In conclusion, overweight and obesity are not presently a major problem in children and adolescents in this rural Zapotec community. Overweight, in particular, and to a lesser extent obesity have increased in prevalence among adults since the late 1970s. The results suggest adulthood as a critical period for onset of overweight and obesity in this sample. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.