ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine if there were trends in underweight, short stature, and obesity among 1- through 5-year-old Mescalero (NM) Apache Indian children from 1968 through 1988. DESIGN: Cross-sectional review of hospital clinic charts for five cohorts. SETTING: General pediatric outpatient clinic at the Mescalero Indian Health Service Hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-nine patients aged 1 through 5 years in 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, or 1988 for whom weight and height were recorded during a well-child visit that occurred in the respective year. SELECTION PROCEDURES: Approximately half the charts were screened for eligibility through systematic sampling for all years except 1988; for 1988 all available charts were screened for eligibility for the study. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: We found trends of decreasing prevalence of both underweight (defined as weight-for-height below the fifth percentile) and short stature (defined as height-for-age below the fifth percentile) based on the Centers for Disease Control/World Health Organization growth reference. We found no secular trends in obesity (weight-for-height above the 95th percentile), although the prevalences throughout the 21-year period were as much as two to four times higher than expected when compared with the Centers for Disease Control/World Health Organization reference. There has been an upward shift in both weight-for-height and height-for-age distributions since 1968, indicating that Mescalero children today are, on average, heavier and taller. CONCLUSIONS: Underweight and short stature decreased among Mescalero preschool children from 1968 through 1988, suggesting nutritional improvements. However, given the current high prevalence of obesity, it is recommended that surveillance of nutritional status be continued and appropriate interventions be developed to treat and prevent obesity in this population.
Subject(s)
Anthropometry , Body Height , Indians, North American , Obesity/epidemiology , Thinness/epidemiology , Child Nutrition Disorders/complications , Child Nutrition Disorders/epidemiology , Child Nutrition Disorders/ethnology , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Humans , Infant , Mass Screening , New Mexico/epidemiology , Nutritional Status , Obesity/diagnosis , Obesity/ethnology , Outpatient Clinics, Hospital , Population Surveillance , Prevalence , Reference Values , Risk Factors , Thinness/diagnosis , Thinness/ethnology , United States , United States Indian Health ServiceABSTRACT
The prevalence of obesity among native American children ranks with the highest in the United States. However, little is known about associated risk factors for obesity among these children. We conducted a medical record review of 261 preschool children enrolled in the Mescalero Apache tribe to determine the prevalence of obesity and associated risk factors. The prevalence of obesity (weight for height greater than 95th percentile) in this population was 19.5%. The prevalence of obesity (body mass index greater than 95th percentile) in their mothers was 23%. Children with obese mothers were more than twice as likely to be obese than children of nonobese mothers. Children with a high birth weight were three times as likely to be obese as children of low or normal birth weight. The high prevalence of obesity may be due to both life-style and dietary patterns on the reservation. Family-based interventions are needed to prevent obesity and its long-term consequences in this population.
