Environment driven changes in type 2 diabetes, overweight and obesity in an isolated Mixe community in the Valley of Oaxaca, southern Mexico.

BACKGROUND

This study focused on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in a group of adult Mixe, an Indigenous population from Oaxaca, Mexico. Mixe comprised an estimated 9.4% (n ≅ 90 000) of the Indigenous population in Oaxaca. Mexico.

OBJECTIVE

This study focused on a group of adult Mixe, an Indigenous population from Oaxaca, Mexico. To compare the prevalence of T2DM, overweight (OW), obesity (OB), and hypertension (HTN) between 2007 and 2017 for a small, isolated Mixe community in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. We test whether or not environmental changes have affected T2DM prevalence.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Demographic and medical record data were collected in the community in 2007 and 2017 from the medical clinic and the mayor's office. T2DM was medically diagnosed among adults (>34 years old), in 2007 (n = 730) and in 2017 (n = 829).

RESULTS

T2DM crude prevalence increased from 6.7% to 12.1% (p < .001) from 2007 to 2017. The mean age of the sample analyzed was 60.6 (SD = 9.7). Age-adjusted T2DM prevalence increased from 6.7% to 10.8% (p < .002). T2DM was 5.7%-5.5% among males (p < .53) and 7.1%-13.6% among females (p < .001). Sex-specific OW and OB simulation studies indicate females had 7% less OW in 2007, and males were unchanged compared with 2017. OB among males and females was significantly higher in 2017 compared with 2007 (increased by 15.2% and 8.3%, males and females, respectively). Sexes combined OW + OB increased 12.7% among males but was unchanged in females (-0.5%). In the sexes combined analysis, OW prevalence increased 12.7% to 27.1% (p < .001) and OB prevalence increased 10.7%-27.9% (p < .001) from 2007 to 2017. HTN did not change significantly from 2007 to 2017 (15.4% and 14.6%, respectively) (p = .63) in adults. Among T2DM individuals, the frequency of HTN was not significantly different in 2007 and 2017 (57.1% and 37%, respectively) (p = .65). Transition to a Western diet consisting of high-carbohydrate foods occurred at the same time as increased T2DM from 2007 to 2017, with a higher prevalence of T2DM noted among females in 2017.

CONCLUSIONS

An increased prevalence of T2DM, OW, and OB but not HTN was observed in the Mixe community from 2007 to 2017 and was associated with the adoption of a high-carbohydrate Western diet.