Estado nutricio de niños del noroeste de México pre y post pandemia por COVID-19 / Nutritional status of children in northwest Mexico pre and post COVID-19 pandemic

Introducción. Mundialmente se observaron consecuencias negativas en la salud por el aislamiento social durante la pandemia de COVID-19; el sobrepeso y la obesidad mostraron tendencias crecientes. Objetivo. Analizar los cambios en el sobrepeso, obesidad y alimentación de escolares del noroeste de México antes y después del aislamiento por COVID-19. Materiales y métodos. Se colectaron y analizaron el peso, talla y circunferencia de cintura de escolares del noroeste de México pre y post pandemia por COVID 19 (n=479 y n=820). Además, se analizaron los cambios en la alimentación en una submuestra de 203 y 179 escolares pre y post pandemia, respectivamente. Resultados. La edad promedio de los escolares en 2019 fue 8,9 ±1,75 y en el 2022 de 9,1 ± 1,54 años. Se observó un aumento de 6,2 puntos porcentuales en la prevalencia de sobrepeso y obesidad y diferencias en la distribución de las categorías del estado nutricio (p=0,049) entre los dos periodos. También, se observaron cambios en la adiposidad central con un aumento de 3 centímetros en la circunferencia de cintura (p=0,001; 62,6 y 65,6 cm). El índice de alimentación saludable (IAS) mostró una alimentación poco saludable durante los dos periodos. Conclusiones. El aumento en las prevalencias de sobrepeso y obesidad, así como de obesidad central durante la emergencia epidemiológica, indicaron un deterioro del estado nutricio de los escolares, que coincide con los reportes en poblaciones a nivel mundial y en Latinoamérica; los resultados resultan preocupantes dada la problemática antes de la emergencia(AU)

Introduction. Negative health consequences due to social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic were observed worldwide; overweight and obesity showed increasing trends. Objective. To analyze the changes in overweight, obesity and diet of schoolchildren in northwest Mexico before and after lockdown due to COVID-19. Materials and methods. Weight, height, and waist circumference of schoolchildren (n=479 pre-pandemic and n=820 post-pandemic) were collected in public schools located in medium to high marginalization neighborhoods. In the same periods dietary data was collected from a subsample of 203 and 179 schoolchildren, respectively. Results. The average age of schoolchildren in 2019 was 8,9 ±1,75 and 9,1 ± 1,54 in 2022. An increase in percentage of 6,2 was observed in the overweight plus obesity prevalence and a significant difference in the distribution of nutritional status (p=0,049) between the two periods. In addition, changes in central adiposity were observed, with an increase of 3 centimeters in waist circumference (p=0,001; 62,6 and 65,6 cm). The healthy eating index (HAI) classified the diet of schoolchildren as unhealthy during both periods. Conclusions. The increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity, as well as central adiposity is worrying given that they were already a health problem before the COVID 19 confinement(AU)

Mercury concentrations in seafood and the associated risk in women with high fish consumption from coastal villages of Sonora, Mexico.

Mercury concentrations in the ocean have increased considerably since the industrial revolution and will continue to increase in the next 50 years. Therefore, it is important to monitor Hg levels in fish and to evaluate the health risks in populations with high fish consumption. In the present study, a total of 238 samples of commercial fish and shellfish, were analyzed from the Central Gulf of California, Mexico. Concentrations of total Hg in fish ranged from < DL (detection limit) up to 1.22 µg g-1, with a mean of 0.15 ±â€¯0.19 µg g-1, the majority of the samples were lower than the maximum permissible level. To evaluate the risk, a total of 110 food frequency questionnaires were applied to women (16-68 years old) from 15 coastal fishing villages of Sonora. Results indicated a high seafood consumption at these communities (mean = 307 g day-1), and a high hazard risk (HQ = 6.2) due to methyl mercury ingestion. It is recommended to limit seafood consumption in pregnant women to 4 portions of fish per week, preferably of low mercury concentrations so that all the benefits of seafood consumption are obtained without the negative health effects of methyl mercury.