title: Chronic malnutrition among overweight Hispanic children: understanding health disparities.
abstract: Obesity may be masking other health problems such as height deficit, or stunting. Stunting may reflect the cumulative effect of chronic malnutrition especially in underserved immigrant communities. Exploratory analysis of a sample of children 2-19 years old from the 2007-2008 NHANES was used to assess the relationship between chronic malnutrition and overweight/obesity in Hispanic children. Overall, overweight/obesity prevalence was nearly 1 in 3 children and stunting prevalence was 3.1%. The prevalence of stunting varied significantly across race/ethnicity, with prevalence among Hispanics of 6.6%. Prevalence of stunting varied significantly by socio-economic characteristics within the Hispanic population. Our exploratory study showed differences in the prevalence of stunting across racial/ethnic groups and highlighted that overweight/obese Hispanic children have a higher prevalence of stunting compared with Non-Hispanic White overweight/obese children. More studies are needed to better understand the phenomenon and the implications for health inequities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Master of Public Health Program and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center for Health Policy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA.
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Iriart
authors.forename: Alexis J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Handal
authors.forename: Blake
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Boursaw
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult