[Anthropometric characteristics of obese women before and after weight reduction]. / Características antropométricas de mujeres obesas antes y después de un tratamiento reductor.

Anthropometric changes in 53 premenopausal obese women, 25-45 year-old, after an obesity treatment, were analyzed. Before and immediately after treatment, midarm, abdomen, waist, hip, midthigh and midcalf circumferences, as well as tricipital, bicipital, suprailiac, subscapular, abdominal and calf skinfold thickness were measured. The later averaged over percentil 75th. All final measurements, except midcalf circumference, abdomen/waist and hip/midthigh indexes, were significantly lowers as compared with the initial values. Body weight decreased on average 8.9 kg, and skinfold thickness mean fell below the 75th percentile. Percentage body fat decreased 18.3%, and body mass index 11%. Initial principal component analysis results, exhibited three chief characteristics of obesity: general adiposity; trunk vs. extremity fatness, and upper vs. lower fatness. Body fat distribution pattern and body composition were modified as a result of the treatment. Therefore, the morbidity risk associated with them, was substantially reduced.

Low levels of urinary iodine excretion in schoolchildren of rural areas in Cuba.

OBJECTIVE: We set up a baseline data on urinary iodine excretion from a nationwide representative sample of rural schoolchildren before instituting iodine supplementation. DESIGN: Stratified multistage cluster sampling in three different strata: lowlands, foothills and mountainous areas. Early morning urine samples were collected for evaluation of iodine status. SETTING: Field study in 25 municipalities in 11 out of 14 provinces. The study was carried out from October to December 1995. SUBJECTS: Three thousand and twenty-seven schoolchildren of either sex, 6 to < 12 y from 87 primary schools. RESULTS: The median urinary iodine excretion was 95 microg/L for the whole sample. The situation in a few foothills and all mountainous areas showed a moderate to severe deficiency. In the mountainous stratum, the median urinary iodine excretion values was less than 20 microg/L. CONCLUSIONS: Cuba has a mild iodine deficiency public health problem with respect to WHO criteria, which in the mountainous areas is severe. The Government of Cuba has started a national Plan of Action and funds are being mobilized to introduce nationwide iodized salt.

Biochemical evidence of thiamine depletion during the Cuban neuropathy epidemic, 1992-1993.

During an epidemic outbreak of neuropathy in Cuba during 1992-1993, blood and urine samples were collected from 107 persons with confirmed neuropathy, from 106 control subjects without clinical abnormality who were broadly matched with the affected persons by age and domicile, and from 537 unmatched subjects, also free from clinical abnormality. The unmatched subjects lived in two locations in Cuba; at each location they were drawn from two age ranges: 11-15-y-old secondary school students and 16-64-y-old adults. Measurements of urinary thiamine and blood transketolase and its activation with thiamine pyrophosphate were made. For the neuropathy subjects, these measurements were repeated after 3 wk of rehabilitation. All groups showed biochemical evidence of thiamine depletion affecting 30-70% of their members, which is a high prevalence. Severity of biochemical depletion was, however, no greater in the neuropathy subjects than in the control subjects (P > 0.05). However, it was greater in Pinar del Rio, where the incidence of disease was higher, than in the city of Havana, where less disease was seen. Although the majority of the affected subjects responded biochemically to a daily oral multivitamin supplement containing thiamine (P < 0.001), in some cases normal biochemical status was not achieved even after 3 wk of intensive treatment. In the affected group, thiamine status was inversely correlated with the amount of alcohol consumed (P = 0.007). Thiamine status at the outset was correlated with clinical outcome after treatment. Although neither thiamine depletion nor alcohol abuse were likely to have been the sole cause of the neuropathy epidemic, they may have been contributory factors. Thiamine supplementation or food fortification may therefore be necessary in Cuba.