Nutritional status of indigenous children at boarding schools in northern Mexico

Objective: To assess the nutritional status of Tarahumara children at indigenous boarding schools. Design: Cross-sectional comprehensive nutritional survey. Setting: The schools sampled were located in indigenous municipalities of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Subjects: The study was carried out in 2001 among 331 children aged 6-14 y from a sample of five schools. Anthropometric measurements, a thyroid exam and capillary haemoglobin levels were obtained from the children. Serum concentrations of ferritin, iron, total iron-binding capacity, vitamin B-12, folic acid and zinc were collected from a subsample of 100 children. Results: The prevalence of wasting and overweight (children 6-9 y) was 1.1 and 4.6%, respectively, and of underweight, risk of overweight and overweight (10-14 y) was 3.2, 5.1 and 0.6%, respectively. Stunting (6-12 y) was present in 22.3% of the children. The total goitre rate was 5.4%. The prevalence of anaemia was 13% (boys 11.4, girls 14.5%). Overall, 24.2% of the children were iron deficient (depletion 11.1%, deficient erythropoiesis 3%, iron deficiency anaemia 10.1%). No child had folic acid values <3 ng/ml, but 20.2% had low (<200 mg/dl) and 27.3% marginal (200-300 mug/dl) vitamin B-12 levels, and 80.2% had low zinc concentrations (<60 mu g/dl). Conclusions: Nutritional underweight and stunting were similar to those reported in rural localities at the national level, but overweight was less prevalent in children aged 10-14 y. Various micronutrient deficiencies was identified including zinc and vitamin B-12, but the prevalence of iron and folic acid deficiency was lower than expected. These results suggest that Tarahumara children attending boarding schools may be the better-off children from these extremely poor and marginalized areas. Sponsorship: Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries and the Mexican Social Security Institute.