The new epidemic in Indigenous peoples: the adiposity syndrome in poverty

The incorporation of industrial foods in Indigenous peoples has generated health problems in families, related to the excessive accumulation of adipose tissue, Diabetes mellitus type II, metabolic liver disease, defined as "adiposity in poverty syndrome".

To analyze the frequency of diseases of the adiposity syndrome in poverty in Indigenous peoples in transition to modernity in the Wixarika region of the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

An epidemiological, cross-sectional analytical design with sampling segmented by community size is applied. 238 cases over 30 years old of 221 families from three communities are studied. Statistical analysis is performed by nonparametric tests, with significant p < 0.05.

There is a significant difference in the frequencies of adiposity syndrome by community size, by locality and between traditional communities and those in the process of westernization.

The study provides a sociohistorical approach to the problems of Indigenous peoples from critical epidemiology. In the Wixaritari populations there are changes in health conditions, determined by the degree of social development and by their incorporation into the processes of Westernization.