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.