Nutrition Transition in Mexico and in Other Latin American Countries

Abstract

Mexico and other Latin American countries are currently undergoing important demographic, epidemiologic and nutrition transitions. Noncommunicable chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and high blood pressure are becoming public health problems as the population experiences an important reduction in physical activity and an increase in energy-dense diets. In contrast, the prevalence of undernutrition is declining in most countries, although several decades will be needed before the prevalence drops to acceptable values. The objective of this article is to discuss the characteristics of the nutrition transition with emphasis in data from Mexico, Brazil, and Chile.

Consumo de refrigerante reduz a ingestão de alimentos em ratos Wistar

“…Soft drink consumption, regarded as a public health problem [2][3][4], has risen in countries such as Japan, the United States, and Brazil [5][6][7]. In Brazil, according to data from the "Family Budget Survey," cola soft drinks were the top selling flavored carbonated beverages in 2008 and 2009, and the average per capita consumption has increased by approximately 92% over the past 6 years [8].…”

Tapping Healthcare Resource by Older Mexicans with Diabetes: How Migration to the United States Facilitates Access

“…First, because the epidemiological transition began in the early 1970s, there has been a gradual decline in infectious diseases and at the same time an increase in prevalence of chronic disease and disability. Second, similar to what has been occurring in more developed countries, Mexico has been undergoing a nutritional transition, in which increasingly numbers of Mexicans are taking on poorer health habits and are in general more sedentary than in previous years, leading to a rising prevalence in chronic conditions, such as diabetes and obesity (Rivera et al 2002(Rivera et al , 2004.…”

Children at Risk: The Effect of Crop Loss on Child Health in Rural Mexico

“…Additionally, Oportunidades directs cash transfers to mothers who are expected to direct a larger share to child health than fathers (Behrman and Hoddinott, 2005). The general positive impact of Oportunidades on child health has been proven in many evaluation studies (see Leroy et al, 2008;Rivera et al, 2004;Fernald et al, 2009;Andalón, 2011). De Janvry et al (2010) investigate the role of conditional cash transfers (ccts) as safety nets to protect uninsured children in poor and vulnerable non-poor households from negative impacts on their human capital due to idiosyncratic shocks and generally acknowledge the function of cct programs as safety nets for poor families.…”

“…In 1997 the Mexican Federal Government launched a large scale poverty reduction program which was rst named Progresa (Program for Education, Health and Nutrition), and later renamed Oportunidades with the principal aim to develop human capital in low-income households (Rivera et al, 2004). The number of covered families rose from 300,000 families in 1997 to 2.6 million in 2000 (covering 40% of the rural families or 10% of all families) to then 4.5 million households in 2005, which is about 20% of all families in Mexico (Rivera et al, 2004). Oportunidades is not a pure cash transfer program, but provides many dierent health and education related services to chosen families which are partly compulsory to pursue.…”