The High Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Mexican Children

DEL RIO-NAVARRO, BLANCA E., OSCAR VELAZQUEZ-MONROY, CLAUDIA P. SANCHEZ- CASTILLO, AGUSTIN LARA-ESQUEDA, ARTURO BERBER, GUILLERMO FANGHANEL, RAFAEL VIOLANTE, ROBERTO TAPIA-CONYER, W. PHILIP T. JAMES, AND THE ENCUESTA NACIONAL DE SALUD (ENSA) 2000 WORKING GROUP. The high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Mexican children. Obes Res. 2004;12:215-223. Objective: To establish the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Mexican children 10 to 17 years of age according to the percentiles from both the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF). Research Methods and Procedures: Heights and weights were measured in children from nationally representative, randomly chosen households in the Mexican National Health Survey 2000. The study population consisted of 7862 boys and 8947 girls, 10 to 17 years of age. Measure- ments used were the percentage of children in the corre- sponding BMI categories for overweight and obesity spec- ified by the CDC and the IOTF BMI percentiles. Results: The children were short, with mean Z scores for height by age varying from - 0.62 1.26 to -1.12 1.06 in boys and from - 0.45 1.25 to -1.19 1.12 in girls. CDC-based overweight prevalences varied by age from 10.8% to 16.1% in boys and 14.3% to 19.1% in girls, with obesity prevalences from 9.2% to 14.7% in boys and 6.8% to 10.6% in girls; these prevalences did not relate to stunt- ing. IOTF-based excess weight prevalences were similar, with higher overweight rates (boys, 15.4% to 18.8%; girls, 18.4% to 22.3%) but lower obesity rates (boys, 6.1% to 9%; girls, 5.9% to 8.2%). Discussion: Mexican children have one-half the over- weight/obesity prevalences of U.S. Mexican-American chil- dren; however, there are higher rates in Northern Mexico, which is closer to the U.S. These escalating rates of excess weight demand new prevention, as well as management, policies.