Texto en inglés: Diabetes in Children in Mexico

Diabetes in Children in Mexico

Stephany Reyna Escalante

International Language Academy of Canada

Pathway III

Freddie Najafi

March 9, 2023

Diabetes in Children in Mexico

In 2016, Mexico declared an epidemiological alert due to the high rates of diabetes and obesity because a third of Mexican children and adolescents are overweight or obese. (UNICEF, 2020) This is no coincidence, since Mexico is the largest consumer of ultra-processed products, including sugary drinks, in Latin America. The highest consumption rates are among children who get about 40 percent of their calories from these products. Promoting breastfeeding can be an important solution to prevent diabetes, encourage children to play sports as a preventive measure against obesity and for the government to improve the health system, promoting prevention programs.

The country also has one of the highest rates of deaths attributable to diabetes and disability-adjusted life years, which is particularly concerning. Obesity is closely related to diabetes. In Mexico, 65% of the population is overweight and 30% of the population is obese (Lavaillant, Lievre Gaelle, and Baert Gabriella, 2019 par. 2). The overweight and obesity in the school-age population, is a growing problem in recent decades. These results are associated with a higher percentage of consumers of foods and beverages with high energy density, lower consumption of fiber (Shamah-Levy, et al., 2022. p. 88) and physical activity levels among Mexican children and youth have been below recommended standards in the past six years, more than half of children and a third of youth do not reach the recommended 60 daily minutes of moderate. (Galaviz K.I., et al.,2018. par 2) Diabetes in children is a growing problem with serious repercussions for future life.

The first solution for prevent the diabetes is breastfeeding, one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival. There are undoubtedly multiple benefits of breastfeeding; Babies are less likely to develop obesity and diabetes in future. (Poudel, RR and Shrestha, D., 2016. p 88). In Mexico, a national health insurance survey in 2009 found that fewer than half,43.2 percent, of babies were exclusively breastfed during their first three days of life. (Organization, nd. par 3) According to the most recent National Nutrition and Health Survey, only 28.8% of children under six months of age are exclusively breastfed in Mexico. On the other hand, at least seven out of 10 have consumed formula or a breast milk substitute. (Rodriguez, 2022 par. 2) several factors affect the low statistics the breastfeeding, for instance, perceived insufficient milk or young motherhood, lack of family support and health services, as well as the working environment and lack of legislation to support breastfeeding among working women. (Munguia, Lozada Tequeanes, Gonzalez Catell, Cervantes Armenta, & Bonvecchio, 2020). In brief, breastfeeding is a key strategy to improve public health and reduce the problem that exists in children about diabetes and its consequences.

Another possible solution for children with diabetes is exercise, as it lowers blood glucose levels and increases the body's sensitivity to insulin, counteracting insulin resistance (Health, 2023). Childhood overweight and obesity rates have been increasing in the population under 19 years of age. According to the latest results of the 2018 National Health and Nutrition Survey, it is estimated that in Mexico 8.2% of infants (0-4 years), 35.6% of children (5-11 years) and almost 40 % of adolescents (12-19 years) are overweight or obese (Aceves M. et al, 2022 par 5). Lifestyle interventions may lead to improvements in weight and cardiometabolic outcomes in children or adolescents. A 2006 national survey reported that 40% of children do not participate in physical activity. Another report indicated that the amount of physical activity is less than 12% of the class period, due to the lack of physical education teachers. It is well known that less than 50% of all primary schools in Mexico have a physical educator. (Taylor, Jáuregui Ulloa and González Villalobos, nd). Children in Mexico face several challenges for adequate physical activity, the lack of space, facilities, opportunities, equipment and also, many of the schools in Mexico have two shifts, which reduces the opportunities for extracurricular physical activity. As for the areas designated for physical activities, such as outdoor gyms and parks, children do not seem to use them due to the high crime rate and in urbanized cities pollution plays an important role. (Health, 2023). Finally, the government must restructure the hours allocated to exercise in schools, physical inactivity is a public health problem that causes between 6 and 10% of deaths in the world. Given this scenario, diabetes represents the main cause of general mortality in Mexico, so it is a priority to know the current status and trends of Physical Activity in children.

The last possible solution is the Mexican government needs to implement strong measures to reduce the increase in diabetes during childhood, as other countries have done, which have spent years studying the reasons why diabetes often occurs from childhood. Mexico has uneven regional economic growth, a condition that has caused an effect called nutrition polarization, which shows that the southern region of Mexico, which is less developed, showed an increase in mortality rates from diabetes between 1980 and 2000 of 128%. compared to the more developed northern region, where mortality increased by only 32.5%. (Barquera S., et al, 2013 par. 8) The recent actions of the Mexican government have focused on massive programs of communication and regulation of food distributed in Mexican elementary schools, but the problem is not the strategies, the problem is the execution of plans. Despite the limited efforts that the Mexican government has made in the last 10 years, that does not represent a change in the increasing rates of childhood diabetes. (Barquera S., et al, 2013 chart 5) The measures that the Mexican government requires to implement focus on pregnant women and young families providing medical follow-up for adequate nutrition from pregnancy and promoting breastfeeding accompanied by a measure policy such as sugar taxes. and withdraw from the market products that do not meet strict standards for infant feeding (Timpel, P. et al., 2019 par.11). Finally, the lack of efficacy of the treatment is attributed to the health system, the doctor and the patient. Although there are Mexican guidelines for the treatment of diabetes, few doctors are familiar with them or apply them. In addition, primary care clinics, responsible for treating most cases, do not have the infrastructure to treat chronic diseases.

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