Association between Short Hours of Sleep and Overweight/Obesity in Mexican Adolescent Population: A School-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background/Aim: Obesity in adolescents is increasing; as such, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of obesity in Mexican adolescents and examine its possible association with hours of sleep. Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was carried out. This study included 863 adolescents aged between 11 and 16 years. The prevalence of obesity was estimated using the body mass index (BMI). The duration of sleep (and other information) was assessed by a self-reported questionnaire. The Cochran-Mantel-Hansel test for categorical variables and a general linear model for continuous variables were used to evaluate the interaction effect of BMI and sex with respect to sleeping and assessed activity conditions. Results: It was found that 47.6% of the adolescents were overweight/obese. Men were more frequently overweight/obese than women (52.6% vs. 41.8%, p = 0.002). Moreover, overweight/obese adolescents were younger and spent fewer daily hours watching television (p < 0.05). Men practiced sports more hours per week than women (p = 0.04). However, women spent more daily time on the internet (p = 0.05), and overweight/obese adolescent women slept fewer hours than overweight/obese men and adolescents with normal weight (p = 0.008). Conclusions: The development of strategies for the prevention of overweight/obesity and the improvement of sleep duration should include a gender perspective to improve health habits in Mexican adolescents.

Lack of Association of Coffee Consumption with the Prevalence of Self-Reported Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Mexican Population: A Cross-Sectional Study.

It is estimated that almost 366 million people are currently suffering from diabetes mellitus worldwide. However, it has been suggested that coffee consumption has a protective effect against the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. This association has been observed in many regions around the world. Today, there are no reports in Mexico regarding this association. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the association between coffee intake and self-reported type 2 diabetes mellitus in the southeastern part of Mexico. This study included 1277 residents of Comalcalco, a municipality of Tabasco State, Mexico. We calculated the prevalence for diabetes and performed multivariate analysis using multiple logistic regressions to evaluate the combined association with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The prevalence of the diabetes was 12.52% (95% CI: 10.67⁻14.38). The majority of people surveyed (77.29%; 95% CI: 74.95⁻79.60) indicated they were coffee drinkers. The results of multivariate analysis showed a non-significant relationship between the number of cups of coffee drank and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The adjusted odds ratio gave the following values: 1.20, (95% CI: 0.59⁻2.41) for non-daily consumption; 1.66 (0.82⁻3.34), for 1 cup of coffee peer day, and 1.49 (0.78⁻2.86) for 2⁻3 cups. Subsequently, an adjustment was made for age, gender, marital status, education, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking. In our population, we did not observe an association between coffee intake and its protective relationship with self-reported type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Gender differences of suicides in children and adolescents: Analysis of 167 suicides in a Mexican population from 2003 to 2013.

Suicide is the second cause of death in youth population. The aim of the present study was to analyze demographic characteristics and suicide methods used, as well as to identify gender differences among Mexican children and adolescents (aged 10-17 years) that committed suicide. Between January 2003 and December 2013, 167 suicides of children and adolescents between 10 and 17 years of age were documented by the Secretary of Health of the state of Tabasco, Mexico. All sociodemographic characteristics were compared according to gender. Our sample included 67.7% males and 32.3% females (male to female 2.1:1). The predominant marital status was single (89.6%) and hanging (93.7%) was the principal method of suicide used. Both female and male adolescents were predominantly students (50%); however, female adolescents were more frequently married (17%) and were housewives (26.4%). Our results identified that hanging is the principal suicide method used by children and adolescents in Mexican population; we also detected main gender differences in terms of poisoning/drug toxicity as the method used, occupation and marital status. These results should be taken into consideration when designing suicide prevention programs due to the differences found by gender.