Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The purpose of the study was to validate the CIMDER strip to determine it's sensitivity and specificity comparing different children groups in Tlahuac, a Mexico City county, according to the strip color related to weight/age, height/age and weight/height. Five hundred and seventy five children between 41 and 71 months old were measured using the CIMDER strip. They fell in the following ranges: 16.2 per cent (93 children) were red, 37.9 per cent (218 children) were yellow and 45.9 per cent (264 children) were green. Results showed that when related to Gómez classification for weight/age, CIMDER strip presented high sensitivity and specificity. When related to National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) percentiles table for weight/height and weight/age, it presented high sensitivity but low specificity.

The national food surveys of 1974, 1979 and 1989 were analysed in order to evaluate the levels and tendencies of the malnutrition prevalence in children one to five years old. The malnutrition prevalence mantained its level with minor changes: it increased from 49 to 53 per cent in the group with -1 SD, and from 17 to 19 percent in those with -2 SD, in relation with the OMS-NCHS standards. If the information is analysed by social sectors, it is possible to conclude that the apparent stability is due to a process of nutritional polarization: the areas that had lower figures improved as the poor and Indian areas with high prevalence of initial malnutrition deteriorated even more.

This article examines the impact of work conditions on the health of women working in assembly plants known as "maquiladoras". A sample of 480 women residing in Tijuana and with similar low socioeconomic conditions was studied. The sample included 120 electronics workers, 120 textil workers, 120 service workers and 120 women with no history of laborforce participation. These groups were compared on physical and psychosocial health outcomes, including depression, nervousness, functional impediments and sense of control over life. Data were obtained from interviews conducted in the communities where workers reside. Although high levels of depression and a low sense of control over life was observed, maquiladora workers -particularly in the electronics industry- sufferedless functional impediments and nervousness than service workers. However, maquiladora workers were at higher risk of delivering infants of low birthweigth.

One hundred and twenty two workers (16 from a coke production plant, 106 from a graphite electrode manufacturing plant) agreed to participate in this study designed to evaluate the relationship between the exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS) and the urinary excretion of 1- hydroxypyrene (1-HOP), the main metabolite of pyrene. The results show that the concentration of pyrene in air is highly correlated with total PAHS amount (r= 0.083, p menor que 0.001), with a the correlation coefficient between 1-HOP and total PAS of r= 0.72 (p menor que 0.001). The biological half life of the 1- HOP was determined (18 hrs) and the non interference of smoking habits in relation to 1-HOP urinary was established, concluding that 1-HOP is a suitable bioindicator of the occupational exposure to PAHS,

This paper presents several experiences obtained in the Rural Research Center of the Solis Valley in relation to community participation programs. The main objective of these projects was to improve the nutritional practices of children in the rural areas of highland Mexico. As first experience, small groups were formed with mothers, fathers, married couples and teenagers. Each of these groups started a project oriented to promote nutritional self-sufficiency. One group of mothers was successful in assuring the provision of government subsidized milk in their community. A second group of mothers started a chicken-raising farm, but the project failed because all the chicken died in an epidemic. The group of fathers started a sheep-raising project as the first step to get a milk-producing cow. The sheep-raising was successful, but when the sheep were sold each man in the group kept the revenue to himself and the group disappeared. The married couples were successful both in a home-Gardening project and in a chicken-raising farm. The teenagers were also successful with their home-gardening project and acted as "injection groups " to spread the project in other communities. As a second experience in community participation, community health workers taught mothers how to use locally available food to improve their diets, preparing culturally acceptable food recipes. This intervention was successful in increasing mother's awareness of a balanced diet. A second intervention combined the presentation of a drama ("peasant's theater") in order to in crease mother's participation in these projects. Evaluation of this strategy showed that mothers increased their knowledge and use of the promoted diets as compared to those communities in which only the local cook recipes were promoted. In conclusion, community participation projects have proved to be successful in improving dietary practices of rural families.

This article presents the preliminary findings of the Survey on Teenagers and Youth Reproductive Behavior in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, which contains information on 1 010 teenagers and young adults from 10 to 25 years of age interviewed in 1987. The average age was 17 years; 51.7 per cent of those interviewed were male and 48.3 per cent were female. A total of 14.6 per cent were married, being the average age at marriage 19.2 years for males and 17.8 years for females. Menarche occurred at an average age of 12.4 years, and spermarche at 14. Of those Interviewed, 32.7 per cent have had sexual intercourse at least once in their lives. The average age at which sexual activity had begun, in the case of males, was 16 years and for females, 17 years. Of this group, 33.8 per cent stated that they had used some form of contraception during the first sexual intercourse; the contraceptive methods used most often were rhythm and withdrawal. The main source of supply of other methods is the pharmacy, in 67 per cent. 18.4 per cent of women had been pregnant, and 20.4 per cent of men's partners had presented this same condition. The first pregnancy occurred at 17.8 years for women and 18.7 for men. Of those men and women with a pregnancy experience 66.1 per cent and 57.3 per cent, respectively, stated that their first pregnancy was an unplanned one. Also, first pregnancy was related to their first marriage in 48.1 per cent of women and 82.4 per cent of male. The data presented here will reinforce current knowledge and will enable us to obtain a profile of the reproductive behavior of teenagers and young adults in the metropolitan area of Mexico City.

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