[A program of community action research on migration and nutrition]. / Programa de investigación-acción comunitaria en migración y nutrición.

This paper discusses the importance of research in community participation as part of primary health care. The research component was carried out in the northern mountains of Oaxaca, including the diagnosis and correlation between the migratory process from an area with high demographic expulsion and the nutritional and health conditions of six communities in Oaxaca. The action component included the implementation of resolutive actions in the communities with the highest migration. These actions were: diagnosis and nutritional surveillance; parasite infestation surveillance and treatment with anti-helminthic plants; unconventional edible plants; and nutritional education (through community participation theatre), among others. In general terms, the results of the diagnosis provided insights into the variety of forms of migration, ranging from the disorganization of the community to more intelligent collective strategies for survival. Regarding the nutritional condition of preschoolers, it was found that, while 85 per cent of those living in the mountains were undernourished, undernourishment practically does not exist in the migrant families in Mexico City. It can be concluded that positive results were obtained from those actions largely due to the active participation of the communities and to the health auxiliaries trained in the fields of nutrition, health and ecology. Finally, the need to establish research-action plans with a higher level of interdisciplinary participation is emphasized. The primary goal of these plans would be to improve the living standards of people who are both the object and subject of research and not to reduce the findings to "mere numbers", because, as it is so often the case, when this occurs, the perspective of the communities' reality is lost.

[Lactation behavior and delivery care in a group of women from a Mexican rural community]. / Conducta de lactancia y atención del parto en un grupo de mujeres de una comunidad rural Mexicana.

This article presents a brief discussion on the role that "medical practice" plays, related to the type of infant lactation after delivery, and breast-feeding practice during the first months of life. Data on hospital routines and how these predispose artificial feeding practices are seen from a critical angle. The information presented in this paper corresponds to a project carried out in a rural community of the state of México, called Malinalco, where the lactation behavior of 65 women after birth of the child, was followed as of their last period of pregnancy. The main objectives of the study were to determine the relationship between the place of delivery (hospital or home delivery) and the type of lactation practiced by the mothers, as well as to determine the infants nutritional status during their first year of life. Results showed that the greater part of women from the sample were young others (less than 30 years old) with one or two children. As to the place where delivery took place, 72% of the sample were attended by midwives at their own homes, and at last 65% practiced breast feeding exclusively during the first three months. No significant correlation between these two indicators (place of delivery and type of lactation) was found, although a tendency to a more prolonged breast-feeding practice was observed in those women who delivered at home. Problems related to weaning practices were detected, since they start this only with bean broth after five months of life. Finally, information on nutritional status during the first 12 months of life, shows serious nutritional problem after the child's third month of life, since the normality percentage starts decreasing while there occurs a significant increase of 1st an 2nd degree malnutrition.

[Main sociocultural aspects related to breast feeding in Malinalco, Mexico]. / Principales aspectos socioculturales relacionados con la lactancia en Malinalco, Edo. de Mexico.

The present paper discusses data related to some sociocultural aspects on breast-feeding behavior among a group of women from a rural community in Mexico called Malinalco. A sample of 225 mothers with children aged less than 60 months, was selected. Several home visits were done in order to fill up a questionnaire, as well as to follow direct interviews according to some selected variables to the deepened, such as: schooling, occupation, place of children deliveries, breast-feeding behavior beliefs on breast-feeding abandonment, weaning practices, etc. The results showed that there is no relation between breast-feeding practices, income and school years; nevertheless, there is a certain tendency on early abandonment of breast-feeding in women with higher level of schooling. Some local beliefs about breast-milk production were detected, as well as some remedies to stimulate milk production and to cure certain breast-feeding problems. Data on weaning age and the commonest weaning food products are presented. The importance that cultural dimension has on breast-feeding studies is discussed, as well as the relevance of recognizing "the changes of concepts" within the process of cultural development itself, in order to understand them better and to propose solutions to the generated problems.