Poor nutritional conditions persist in many Mayan communities in Yucatán, Mexico, even though various programs have been implemented. The study aimed to compare the effects of a community-based nutritional intervention with an intercultural focus versus a conventional nutritional intervention on body mass index (BMI) and diet in women in Mayan communities in Yucatán. The sample included adult women with BMI ≥ 25kg/m2 from neighboring rural Mayan villages. Both interventions lasted three months with 11 sessions and followed the prevailing guidelines. The community-based intervention used an intercultural tool called Good Mayan Food [Plato del Bien Comer Maya], besides strategies designed according to information obtained from a prior qualitative study phase using interviews. The group that received the community-based intervention (n = 7), compared to the conventional intervention group (n = 9), showed larger decreases in BMI (-0.58 ± 0.70 kg/m2 and +0.27 ± 0.64kg/m2; p = 0.042), waist circumference (-2.15 ± 2.60 cm and -0.50 ± 0.75 cm; p = 0.042), and consumption of fats (-53.23 ± 21.92 grams and -7.34 ± 25.77 grams; p = 0.004), as well as higher increases in weekly consumption of some local foods such as nance fruit (p = 0.012), tamarind (p = 0.001), and chili peppers (p = 0.004). The community-based intervention was the only one to show a significant decrease in daily calorie intake (baseline: 2,067 ± 91 kcal/day, at three months: 1,474 ± 31 kcal/day; p = 0.018), and both groups showed decreases in the consumption of ultra-processed foods, but without significant differences between the two groups. The community-based intervention group showed better results than the conventional intervention group.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0102-311XES026121DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

nutritional intervention
16
community-based intervention
16
mayan communities
12
intervention group
12
intervention
10
community-based nutritional
8
conventional nutritional
8
communities yucatán
8
intervention intercultural
8
three months
8

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!