Household food insecurity in Mexico is associated with the co-occurrence of overweight and anemia among women of reproductive age, but not female adolescents.

We aimed to determine the association between household food insecurity (HFI) and the co-occurrence of overweight and anemia among women of reproductive age in the Mexican population. We analyzed data on 4,039 nonpregnant female adolescents (15-19 years) and 10,760 nonpregnant adult women of reproductive age (20-49 years) from the 2012 National Health and Nutrition Survey of Mexico. The survey uses a two-stage sampling design, stratified by rural and urban regions. The Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale was used to assess HFI. We assessed overweight and obesity in women based on World Health Organization classifications for body mass index, and BMI-for-age Z-scores for female adolescents, and defined anemia as an altitude-adjusted hemoglobin (Hb) concentration < 120 g/L based on measurement of capillary Hb concentrations. In multiple logistic regression models adjusting for potential confounding covariates, HFI was not associated with the co-occurrence of anemia and overweight among female adolescents. The adjusted odds of women of reproductive age from mildly and moderately food-insecure households, respectively, experiencing concurrent anemia and overweight were 48% (OR: 1.48; 95% CI: 1.15, 1.91) and 49% (OR: 1.49; 95% CI: 1.08, 2.06) higher than among women from food-secure households. Severe HFI was not associated with concurrent overweight and anemia among female adolescents or women. HFI may be a shared mechanism for dual forms of malnutrition within the same individual, simultaneously contributing to overconsumption and dietary inadequacy.

Differential association of lead on length by zinc status in two-year old Mexican children.

BACKGROUND: Blood lead levels have decreased in Mexico since leaded fuel was banned in 1997, but other sources remain, including the use of lead-glazed ceramics for food storage and preparation. Zinc deficiency is present in almost 30% of children aged 1-2 years. Previous studies have documented negative associations of both lead exposure and zinc deficiency with stature, but have not considered the joint effects. Given that the prevalence of stunting in pre-school aged children was 13.6% in 2012, the aim of this study was to evaluate if the relationship between blood lead and child stature was modified by zinc status. METHODS: Anthropometry, dietary energy intake, serum zinc and blood lead were measured in 291 children aged 24 months from an ongoing birth cohort study in Mexico City. Child stature was represented by recumbent length as appropriate for this age group. The association between blood lead (BPb) and length-for-age Z score (LAZ) was evaluated using a model stratified by zinc status measured by standard criteria and adjusted for: birth length, breastfeeding practices, energy intake, maternal height and education. RESULTS: Median (IQR) BPb was: 0.17 (0.12-0.26) µmol/L and 17% of the sample had zinc deficiency (<9.9 µmol/L). BPb was inversely associated with LAZ in the overall sample (ß = -0.19, p = 0.02). In stratified models, this negative association was more than three times higher and statistically significant only in the zinc deficient group (ß = -0.43, p = 0.04) compared to the zinc replete group (ß = -0.12, p = 0.22) (BPb*zinc status, p-for-interaction = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Zinc adequacy is a key factor that may attenuate the negative association of lead on stature in young children.