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Objetivo. Analizar los cambios del estado de nutrición de niños guatemaltecos menores de seis años, refugiados en México entre 1982 y 1996, así como describir los diferentes programas de ayuda alimentaria que se pusieron en marcha. Material y métodos. Se realizó un análisis comparativo de cuatro estudios antropométricos transversales llevados a cabo en Chiapas (1982 y 1989), Quintana Roo (1989) y Campeche y Quintana Roo (1996). Se obtuvieron prevalencias de desnutrición según los indicadores peso/edad y talla/edad. Se calculó la razón de momios de la prevalencia y los intervalos de confianza al 95%. Se describen los programas dirigidos a mejorar la nutrición y salud de la población durante el periodo. Resultados. En 1982 privaban altas tasas de desnutrición y de mortalidad entre estos niños refugiados. En 1989, después de su reubicación en Campeche y en Quintana Roo, había mejorado considerablemente la situación tanto de los reubicados como de los que permanecieron en Chiapas. Esa situación prevaleció hasta 1996. Conclusiones. Los programas emprendidos fueron eficaces para controlar la emergencia y prevenir nuevas situaciones de crisis. Sin embargo, sólo lograron sostener a la población refugiada en condiciones similares a las prevalentes en la población indígena mexicana.

The aging process conveys multiple changes in the organism, as well as changes in individual's surroundings. Such modifications make the appearance of this sufferance, diagnose, and treatment to be complex and different in the rest of the population. The last makes necessary the coordinated work of the multidisciplinary team, in which the diabetic senior, caretaker, or relative most be actively participants. The success of preventive and curative measures relies in increasing knowledge about health and, life conditions (economic, social, community, family, etc.) of each patient and of the senior population in general; as well as facilitating the patient with information about the means to have a better understanding about the disease, and the available resources for its treatment, and to be aware of the importance of achieving the therapeutic objectives. This last part is particularly important for the nutritional treatment for diabetes, since its objective is the change in the habit, and customs of nutrition, and the physical activity that the patient has realized throughout many years.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment in the elderly and its relation with sociodemographic and health factors in the Mexican population., Material and Methods: From the first wave data of the National Aging and Health Study, collected in 2001 in Mexico, subjects 65 years or older and who had completed a cognitive assessment were selected. Subjects were classified according to two groups: with and without cognitive impairment, based on the cutoff point corresponding to the 10th percentile of the total cognitive assessment score, adjusted for age and educational level. All subjects with cognitive impairment that also had difficulty with one of the activities of daily living were classified as a third group: with cognitive impairment and functional dependency. Prevalence rates were calculated, and an association with demographic and health variables was established through regression analysis., Results: Seven percent of the population had cognitive impairment while 3.3% had both conditions. The probability of cognitive impairment was not significantly associated with any demographic or health variables. Cognitive impairment and functional dependency indicated an association with gender, age, marital status, diabetes, stroke, heart disease and depression., Conclusions: The high prevalence of cognitive impairment and its relation with chronic disease frequently observed in the Mexican elderly suggest the need to increase early identification of both conditions in the population.

Objective: To determine changes in the nutritional status of Guatemalan refugee children under six years of age, who lived in Mexico between 1982 and 1996, under various nutrition-related programs implemented during that period., Material and Methods: A comparative analysis of 4 cross-sectional anthropometric studies performed in Chiapas (1982, 1989), Quintana Roo (1989) and Campeche and Quintana Roo in 1996. Malnutrition prevalence by weight/age and height/age indicators was calculated. Odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals were estimated. The implemented programs to improve nutritional status and health conditions are described., Results: In 1982, high rates of malnutrition and mortality prevailed among refugee children. In 1989 some had been transferred to Campeche and Quintana Roo and others stayed in Chiapas. Their situation had improved and remained so until 1996., Conclusions: The implemented programs were successful to control the emergency and prevent new crises. However they only managed to maintain similar conditions for the refugees as those which prevail among the Mexican indians.

Objective: Based on the 1988 National Health Survey data base, a preliminary approach to an epidemiologic profile of the Mexican elderly is proposed., Material and Methods: This paper analyzes both reported prevalences of some of the principal health problems in Mexicans over 60 years of age and the relationship between selected morbidity, socio-demographic variables and impairment of daily living activities, stratified by age., Results: Results show that: a) the panorama of reported morbidity among the Mexican elderly is a combination of multiple causes, b) socially defined groups present heterogeneous disease patterns, c) selected morbidity is strongly related to daily living activity impairments., Conclusions: This approach may be used to improve research on living and health conditions of the Mexican elderly.