The Secretaría de Educación de Cultura del Estado Sonora (Sonora State Secretary of Education and Culture) and Secretaría de Educación Pública del Estado Puebla (Puebla State Public Secretary of Education) oversaw the participant schools. Indigenous schools are characterized by bilingualism and biculturalism, where at least one indigenous language and culture of a particular Amerindian group is taught. All children from the Por tu Salud Project attended seven schools, four in Sonora, Hermosillo (the capital of the state NM-Urban), one in CM-Puebla, and two indigenous schools from Sonora: Seris (NM-Seris) and Yaquis (NM-Yaquis). Children from northern Mexico (NM) and central Mexico-Puebla (CM-Puebla) were part of the Por tu Salud Project, aiming to elucidate the genetic and environmental risk factors of childhood obesity. Adolfo López Mateos, Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado, ISSSTE (Institute of Security and Social Services of State Workers). Children from central Mexico-Mexico City (CM-Mexico City) came from of the Childhood Obesity Cohort of the Healthy Childhood Project, carried out at the Genomic Medicine Laboratory at Hospital Regional Lic. This study included Mexican children, aged from 5 to 13 years old, from northern (Sonora State) and central Mexico (Puebla State and Mexico City).
Thus, the aims of this study were to: (a) estimate the prevalence of several lipids’ markers in children from five ethnic groups (three urban and two indigenous) from northern and central Mexico, (b) assess the ability of the BMI and body fat percentage (BFP) to discriminate lipid disorders, and (c) analyze the association of obesity and ethnicity with lipid disorders. This is particularly true for remote indigenous groups, where there is greater vulnerability due to a lack of medical services and clinical laboratories. However, we scarcely know the prevalence of lipid disorders among children or how they may differ among ethnicities.Īlthough lipid disorders are directly determined by the lipid profile, non-invasive and easy anthropometric measurements are feasible alternatives for assessing abnormal lipid levels in early stages because of the direct relationship with childhood obesity. Genetic, cultural, and lifestyle differences among ethnicities, at least, factor into differences in obesity prevalence and other metabolic diseases in Mexico. Both trends-adult CVD and childhood obesity-make children especially vulnerable to the development of chronic disease and premature death. The leading CVD risk factors are high systolic blood pressure, dietary risks, high levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL), cholesterol, a high body mass index (BMI), and a high fasting plasma glucose level.
The Global Burden of Disease study estimated that from 1990 to 2017, CVD accounted for 22.7% of all deaths in Mexico. Among adults, CVD has been a significant cause of death since 1990, with a mortality rate of 196 deaths per 100,000 that year. Mexico ranks as one of the top countries worldwide for childhood obesity, with a mean national prevalence of 34.9% for schoolchildren. Thus, early screening of abnormal lipids levels is crucial for the prevention and intervention of chronic diseases. Lipid disorders and obesity in childhood are associated with an earlier onset and greater risk of many chronic disorders in adults such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and premature death. The emerging lipid disorder risk depends on the ethnic group. Lipid disorders are not restricted to children with high BMIs, but obesity exacerbates these. Obesity and ethnic interaction increase the lipid disorders by more than five times for different lipid markers and ethnic groups (high total cholesterol OR = 5.31 low HDL OR = 5.11, and dyslipidemia OR = 5.68). Obesity significantly ( p < 0.05) increases lipid disorders by around two times (OR~2) for almost all lipid markers. The BMI performed better at predicting low HDL in Seris, a northern indigenous group (0.95, CI: 0.69–0.85), and Mexico City (0.75, CI: 0.69–0.82), and high LDL in Puebla (central Mexico, 0.80, CI: 0.69–0.85). The highest prevalence of lipid disorders (high TG, high TC, high LDL, high APOB, and dyslipidemia) was found in central Mexico-Mexico City and urban northern Mexico. We analyzed the association and interaction of obesity and ethnicity with lipid disorders using generalized linear models in 977 children. We measured the lipid profile to determine the ability of the body mass index (BMI) to discriminate an abnormally high lipid level using receiving operating characteristics (ROC). The aim of this study was to assess lipid disorders in children from five ethnic groups, both urban and indigenous, from northern and central Mexico.