Prevalence of malnutrition and associated metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease in older adults from Northwest Mexico.

This cross-sectional study assessed the prevalence of malnutrition and several metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease in 287 apparently healthy older adults from Northwest Mexico. Also, the impact of overweight and obesity on metabolic risk factors was assessed. Nutritional status was determined using serum albumin levels and anthropometry. Vitamin status was also assessed. Metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease were evaluated. The prevalence of undernutrition was 15.3%. Also, vitamin E deficiency was common (18%). On the contrary, 44.9% of men and women were in overweight and 24% were obese. A 50.9% of the older adults had hypertension, 52.6% hypercholesterolemia (HC), 38.3% hypertriglyceridemia (HTG), 26.1% impaired fasting glucose and 26.1% impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). HC and low-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) were significantly more prevalent in women than in men. Mean adjusted values of fasting glucose, high-density-lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol (TC)/HDL-C ratio > or = 5, triglycerides (TG) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were significantly higher in subjects with body mass index (BMI) > or = 25.0 kg/m(2). Undernutrition, obesity and vitamin E deficiency, as well as several metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease coexisted in this studied group. Overweight and obesity were the most prevalent findings. BMI > or = 25 kg/m(2) was the common factor explaining most of the metabolic abnormalities. However, due to the sample size and the design of the study, the results must be seen with caution and cannot be generalized.

An Exploration of Gardens in Maycoba, Mexico: Change in the Environment of a Population Genetically Prone to Diabetes.

Gardens are an important part of the environment as they play multiple roles and are central to the lifestyle and economy of many communities. The investigators use qualitative methods to explore patterns and perceptions about changes in gardening and cultivation in the community of Maycoba, Mexico. Maycoba is home to a large community of Pima Indians, an Indigenous population genetically prone to diabetes. Pima Indians living in the United States have been shown to have an extremely high prevalence of diabetes, but the genetically comparable Pimas in Maycoba, Mexico, were found to have little diabetes in the early 1990s. The authors examine home gardens and other cultivation in the area as an element of a changing environment and lifestyle during the past 15 years. Methods include interviews and focus groups. Preliminary findings are presented in this paper.