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Background Indigenous individuals have higher rates of mortality and poverty in Mexico and more than half are marginalised, and COVID-19 pandemic aggravated the existing burden of health disparities. We aimed to analyse the effects of being indigenous and marginalised on coronavirus (COVID-19) infection fatality in Mexico. Methods We identified 3424690 non-pregnant, COVID-19 positive adults ≥19 years in the Mexico national COVID-19 database with known date of symptom. We used demographic information, indigenous status, marginalisation status, and co-morbidities in binary logistic regression to predict mortality, adjusting for covariates, including hospitalisation, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and mechanical ventilation use. We also assessed the interaction between indigenous status and marginalisation. Results Marginalisation was much higher among indigenous (53.7%) compared to non-indigenous individuals (4.8%). COVID-19 fatalities were approximately 20 years older (64.4 and 63.0 years) than survivors (44.7 and 41.2 years) among indigenous vs non-indigenous individuals, respectively. The unadjusted risk of COVID-19 fatality among indigenous individuals was nearly two-fold (odds ratio (OR)=1.92)) compared to non-indigenous individuals (OR=1.05). COVID-19 fatality was higher among highly marginalised individuals (upper quartile) (OR=1.51; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.49-1.54). Marginalised indigenous individuals had a significantly lower likelihood of ICU admission compared to non-indigenous non-marginalised individuals. The likelihood of mechanical ventilation for indigenous individuals was 4% higher compared to non-indigenous individuals. Indigenous marginalised individuals had a significantly lower probability of mechanical ventilation compared to non-indigenous non-marginalised individuals. COVID-19 comorbidity risks of fatality significantly differed between the two groups in the Cox survival analysis. In the fully adjusted model, indigenous individuals were 4% more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to non-indigenous. Conclusions Indigenous, marginalised individuals with COVID-19 had higher risk of hospitalisation and ICU admission than non-indigenous patients. Marginalised, indigenous individuals were less likely to receive mechanical ventilation compared to non-indigenous, but had a higher risk of COVID-19. Indigenous individuals had a 4% higher COVID-19 mortality risk COVID-19 compared to non-indigenous individuals. Improved community medical care and augmented health services in rural hospitals could mitigate barriers to health care access in indigenous, marginalised populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of overweight (OWT) and obesity (OB), defined by the body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) among children and youth has increased worldwide in the last 30–40 years. Aim: To evaluate the weight status, defined by the BMI, of indigenous school children and youth resident in different regions of Mexico Subjects and methods: Students 6–18 years (31,448 boys, 27,306 girls) were enrolled in bilingual schools for indigenous children and youth in Mexico in 2012. Height and weight were measured; the BMI was calculated. The BMI of each student was classified relative to International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) age- and sex-specific criteria as thin (three grades), normal, overweight (OWT) or obese (OB). The sample was divided into five geographic regions for analysis: North, Central, South-Gulf, South-Pacific, and South-Southeast. Age- and sex-specific prevalence, 95% confidence intervals, and Chi-square tests were calculated. Results: Prevalence of OWT + OB was highest in the South-Gulf, South-Pacific and South-Southeast regions and lowest in the North and Central regions, while thinness was most prevalent in the North and Central regions. Conclusion: Prevalence of severe and moderate thinness was relatively low, while the combined prevalence of OWT + OB was generally more prevalent in indigenous boys than girls. However, the prevalence of thinness, OWT + OB among indigenous children and youth was lower than in the general population of children and youth in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To test the hypothesis that assortative mating for physical characteristics differs before and after major secular increases in height in an indigenous community in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Methods. Spouse pairs were identified in household and anthropometric surveys of a Zapotec-speaking community in 1978 (n = 68-70 pairs) and 2000 (n = 99-100 pairs). Height, weight, arm circumference, triceps skinfold and grip strength were measured. Assortative mating was calculated as Pearson correlations. Results. Husband-wife correlations for age were high in both years (r = 0.96, 0.95). Assortative mating for height was significant in 1978 (r = 0.35, p < 0.001) and in 2000 (r = 0.21, p < 0.01), but decreased when ages were controlled (1978, 0.21, p < 0.05; 2000, 0.11). Correlations (zero and second order, respectively) were low for the BMI (1978, 0.02, 0.02; 2000, 0.04, 0.05). Spouse correlations for grip strength were significant in both surveys (r = 0.25 to 0.45), but were reduced ( p > 0.05) when ages of spouses were controlled (r = -0.02 to 0.16). Conclusion. Assortative mating for physical characteristics did not differ between surveys conducted before (1978) and after (2000) major secular increases in height in the community, and any possible genetic effect of the secular trend on assortative was likely negligible.