Association between self-reported sleep duration and dietary quality in Mexican school-aged children.

Short sleep duration has been associated with poor diet quality in school-aged children in multiple populations. However, investigations of sleep and dietary quality in Mexican school-aged children are scarce. The main objective of this work was to assess the association between sleep duration and dietary quality in Mexican school-aged children stratified by sex. The data were collected from 373 (138 girls and 235 boys) elementary school children aged 6-12 years in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Surveys collected information on general demographic characteristics and self-reported sleep duration. Diet was assessed with 24-h recalls, and dietary quality was calculated by the Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015). Results indicated that overall mean sleep duration was 8.23 ± 1.06 h. From the total sample, 6.7% slept ≤6 h (not recommended), 55.8% 7-8 h (may be appropriate), and 37.5% ≥ 9 h (recommended). Average total HEI-2015 score was 64.6 (out of possible 100), with boys having lower HEI-2015 scores than girls (57.7 vs 69.4). Moreover, girls and boys with shorter sleep duration (≤6 h compared to ≥ 9 h) had lower HEI-2015 scores (-1.03 [95% CI -2.74, -0.47; p < .01] and -1.78 [95% CI -3.15, -0.86; p < .001], respectively). Regarding the individual components of dietary quality, those with ≤6 h of sleep had lower scores particularly in vegetables, protein sources, added sugars and saturated fats for girls and boys compared to those with ≥9 h. These findings suggest sleep may be an important determinant of dietary practices within the Mexican children.

Assessment of multiple intelligences in elementary school students in Mexico: An exploratory study.

Multiple Intelligence (MI) helps to evaluate the brain processes of individuals. Identifying the types of multiple intelligence can help teachers to understand their students better. Several studies have identified MI in school children; nevertheless, in Mexico, these studies have been scarce. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the differences of MI between genders and the grades-in-school of Mexican elementary schoolchildren. In an effort to investigate the differences of MI in elementary school children in Mexico, we provided a self-administered questionnaire to 161 Mexican students. Overall, our findings showed that the students' mean averages in the eight categories of MI were similar in both genders; in fact, the only significant differences in gender were found in intrapersonal intelligence (males reporting higher intrapersonal differences than females). No other significant differences in MI were found, nor were there interaction effects between gender and the grade in school. In summary, these results give us an understanding that the different types of MI may not be that well implemented in elementary school children.