title: The double burden of undernutrition and excess body weight in Mexico.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In Mexico, stunting and anemia have declined but are still high in some regions and subpopulations, whereas overweight and obesity have increased at alarming rates in all age and socioeconomic groups.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to describe the coexistence of stunting, anemia, and overweight and obesity at the national, household, and individual levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  We estimated national prevalences of and trends for stunting, anemia, and overweight and obesity in children aged <5 y and in school-aged children (5-11 y old) and anemia and overweight and obesity in women aged 20-49 y by using the National Health and Nutrition Surveys conducted in 1988, 1999, 2006, and 2012. With the use of the most recent data (2012), the double burden of malnutrition at the household level was estimated and defined as the coexistence of stunting in children aged <5 y and overweight or obesity in the mother. At the individual level, double burden was defined as concurrent stunting and overweight and obesity in children aged 5-11 y and concurrent anemia and overweight or obesity in children aged 5-11 y and in women. We also tested if the coexistence of the conditions corresponded to expected values, under the assumption of independent distributions of each condition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the household level, the prevalence of concurrent stunting in children aged <5 y and overweight and obesity in mothers was 8.4%; at the individual level, prevalences were 1% for stunting and overweight or obesity and 2.9% for anemia and overweight or obesity in children aged 5-11 y and 7.6% for anemia and overweight or obesity in women. At the household and individual levels in children aged 5-11 y, prevalences of double burden were significantly lower than expected, whereas anemia and the prevalence of overweight or obesity in women were not different from that expected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although some prevalences of double burden were lower than expected, assuming independent distributions of the 2 conditions, the coexistence of stunting, overweight or obesity, and anemia at the national, household, and intraindividual levels in Mexico calls for policies and programs to prevent the 3 conditions.
authors.affiliation: From the Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
authors.forename: Maria F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Kroker-Lobos
authors.affiliation: From the Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pedroza-Tobías
authors.affiliation: From the Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
authors.forename: Lilia S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Pedraza
authors.affiliation: From the Center for Nutrition and Health Research, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico.
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rivera
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Mexico; children; double burden; overweight and obesity; undernutrition; women nutrition policy