People In Mexico Research Articles

Mortality and Years of Life Lost From Cardiometabolic Diseases in Mexico: National and State-Level Trends, 1998-2022.

Cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) are highly prevalent in Mexico. We analyzed the evolution of mortality from CMDs in Mexico at the national and state level, as well as their contribution to years of life lost (YLL), from 1998 through 2022. We conducted an observational study based on a public database. We calculated age-standardized mortality rates, conducted joinpoint regression analyses to determine changes in the trend and magnitude of mortality over time, and calculated YLL from CMDs among people in Mexico nationally and by state. From 1998 through 2022, the age-standardized mortality rate from CMDs increased by 14.9% in Mexico. These rates reached their highest levels in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, people aged 0 through 84 years had 3.9 YLL from CMDs, which represented an increase of 0.4 years compared with 1998. From 1998 through 2022, age-standardized mortality rates increased for heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension but decreased for stroke. Mortality and YLL from CMDs have steadily increased among people in Mexico, driven mainly by heart disease and diabetes mellitus. YLL attributable to CMDs could be prevented by early care and health prevention policies. Decision makers should work to implement robust and enduring health policies focused on shared risk factors underlying these diseases.

Research on preferences in the consumption of insects

Entomophagy, despite its nutritional and ecological benefits, remains poorly acceptedamong Mexican consumers. There is a gap between the recognition of the advantages ofinsects as a source of protein and the willingness to incorporate them into the daily diet.This study examined the perception and willingness to consume insects as a protein source.Through surveys of 181 people in Mexico, it was found that, although the majority considerthat the consumption of insects does not represent a health risk, the appearance of insects isthe main barrier to consuming them, especially among women. Respondents showed agreater willingness to consume insects in processed forms, such as canned or fermented,that disguise their appearance. However, those with higher levels of neophobia andsensitivity to disgust are less likely to accept its consumption, despite knowing its benefits.These results highlight the discrepancy between accepting insects as a protein alternativeand the true willingness to buy and eat them.

Sociolinguistic Style, Awareness, and Agency among Southern California Latinx Spanish–English Bilinguals

This study examined different degrees of awareness regarding the stigmatization of Southern California (SoCal) Spanish across four groups of Spanish–English bilinguals from Southern California (n = 87). The participants were presented with Spanish sentences and asked to decide which profile of speaker would likely express that sentence, given six options, such as: “someone living in Los Angeles/SoCal who grew up in Mexico” or “a Spanish-English bilingual who grew up in Los Angeles/SoCal”. Experimental stimuli included seven different linguistic categories of stigmatization, including English contact forms. The participants tended to attribute the stigmatized forms to bilinguals who grew up in Southern California. Central Colloquial and Taboo categories were more salient and perceived as forms used by people in Mexico. In contrast, English borrowings and redundancies seemed to be recognized by the participants, particularly for simultaneous bilinguals who grew up in Southern California, as salient forms of an identified Southern California Spanish variety. The results are interpreted within Exemplar Theory, with certain stigmatized forms indexing “Mexican Spanish” exemplars, and English borrowings identified as exemplars of SoCal Spanish. We advocate for usage-based approaches to understanding language perceptions and critical approaches to interrogating academic discourses.

Digital News Audiences in Mexico: Age Segment Analysis

This study aims to determine whether news consumption, media trust, interest in news, and political affinity are correlated with the generational segment of the market, measured by the age of the digital audience. Furthermore, this study seeks to verify whether age is associated with digital audiences’ paying attention to journalists or news brands. This research is based on a survey of 2,005 people in Mexico by YouGov in 2022, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford as part of its annual Digital News Report. The statistical method used was the chi-square test of independence between qualitative variables. The results showed that age correlates with consumption habits, media trust, interest in news, and citizens’ political affinity for digital audiences in Mexico. Moreover, age relates to whether digital audiences focus on journalists or news brands in Latin America. This study delves into the characteristics of digital audiences in Mexico and contributes from a media economics, media management, and media marketing perspective. It also helps media organizations assess their market strategy, market segmentation, and target markets based on the characteristics of digital news audiences in Mexico.

Hegemonies, subalternities, and possible counter-hegemonies: The case of traditional medicine of Indigenous peoples in Mexico

A whole series of processes lead to the decrease in the use of traditional medicine by the indigenous peoples of Mexico, including the reduction in the number of traditional healers and the direct and indirect expansion of biomedicine. This essay addresses the central role these processes play in the relations of hegemony/subalternity that occur in different fields of reality, and especially in the health-illness-care-prevention processes, given that counter-hegemonic processes are not generated, or those that do arise have been ineffective in confronting social hegemony in general and biomedical hegemony in particular.

Prior consultation protocols regarding the energy reform in Mexico: indigenous rights, human rights and the megaproject called Mayan Train

This article shows one of the organizational and normative reactions that indigenous peoples in Mexico have had to safeguard their rights in the current context of a structural and human rights crisis, specifically due to the implementation of megaprojects in their territories. The analysis of the results of the presents research, on the impact of the structural reform, established in previous six-year terms and continued in the current government, is done as part of the academic and teaching activity carried out, but also as part of a professional exercise in which we have accompanied social organizations for more than 20 years. Therefore, what is shown in this work has to do with the attempt to regulate the relationship with the State and other internal and external actors, based on the community exercise, the way in which peoples deliberate and make decisions, and which in other countries is called prior consultation protocols.

Idols and Icons: Franciscan Theology and Artistic Inculturation in Mexico, 1524–1699

Indigenous people in Mexico encountered and interacted with the visual images of Mary, Jesus, and the Saints via Catholic missionaries in the sixteenth century. I examine the complexity of Franciscan changing attitudes and practices toward transforming what they perceived as idols into icons in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Indigenous Christians also adapted and synthesized artistic forms and meanings. Furthermore, artists from various cultures drew sources from Indigenous Mexican, European, and Asian traditions and created a visual Christian culture.

The Eschucha (Listen) Podcast Project: Psychosocial Innovation for Marginalized Mexican Youth and Young Adults.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a challenging period for young people in Mexico, particularly those already contending with social and structural inequality. In March 2021, the Colectivo Frontera, a research collective based in Mexico City, Mexico, which works on advancing equity and psychosocial wellbeing among marginalized communities, carried out an 8-week, online project to provide psychosocial support and promote resilience for marginalized young people from different locations in Mexico. The project entailed weekly journaling with the Pandemic Journaling Project (PJP), as well as weekly phone sessions with a mental health specialist who provided emotional support (acompañamiento emocional) through practices of active listening. The project culminated in the Escucha (Listen) Podcast for which each youth participant created an episode about their experiences during the pandemic. Many also submitted a photo to accompany their recording; one produced a song. Participant episodes were compiled into a series of five chapters. Each chapter of the podcast centers on a common theme, including reflections on loved ones lost to COVID-19, social fragmentation, gender-based constraints on expressing emotions, and the experiences and perspectives of children. The project provides a compelling example of a low-cost approach to providing support for the mental health and wellbeing of marginalized young people. It also demonstrates the importance of creating projects that help young people make meaningful connections and that leverage their creativity to foster resilience, improve social cohesion, and elevate their perspectives and voices.

How Education Shapes Indigenous Health Inequalities in the USA and Mexico.

Indigenous peoples around the world face significant health disparities relative to the dominant groups in their countries, yet the magnitude and patterns of health disparities vary across countries. We use data from the National Health Interview Survey and Mexican Family Life Survey to examine the health of Indigenous peoples in Mexico and American Indians and Alaska Natives in the USA and to evaluate how they fare relative to the majority populations in their countries (non-Indigenous Mexicans and non-Hispanic Whites, respectively). We assess disparities in self-rated health and activity limitations, with a focus on how Indigenous health disparities intersect with educational gradients in health. Regression analyses reveal three primary findings. First, Indigenous health disparities are larger in the USA than in Mexico. Second, differences in educational attainment account for most of the differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in Mexico, but less than half in the USA. Third, in both countries, health is moderated by educational attainment such that between-group disparities are largest at the highest levels of education. However, for Indigenous Mexicans there is a "cross-over" in which Indigenous Mexicans report better health at the lowest level of education. Overall, this study finds a weak relationship between education and Indigenous health, and raises the question about the validity of using traditional measures of SES in Indigenous contexts.

Afro-Mexicans

The constitutional recognition of Black people in Mexico took place through a lengthy process involving Black populations, authorities, activists, and the sometimes-contradictory efforts of Mexican and foreign scholars. This article analyzes how Mexican blackness is constructed in texts from the American academy, as it has had the greatest exposure and impact in global academic discourse. Specifically, it refers to works that Mexican anthropologists acknowledge as having significant influence in the field of Afro-Mexican studies. The purpose of this analysis is to demonstrate how these works originate from a hegemonic locus of enunciation that privileges a first-world experience, hindering the understanding of the Black Mexican experience.

Social inequalities in COVID-19 lethality among Indigenous peoples in Mexico.

This study aimed to estimate the COVID-19 lethality in the Mexican Indigenous population from 2020 to 2022, considering clinical characteristics and social conditions. Data were retrieved from the Epidemiological Surveillance System of Respiratory Diseases, identifying the COVID-19-positive cases among the Indigenous population. Lethality was evaluated per clinical conditions and vulnerability due to social deprivation. The number of COVID-19-positive cases in the Indigenous population represented 0.7% of the total number of cases. The case fatality rate in the Indigenous population was 9.8% against 4.6% in the non-Indigenous population. Lethality was higher in men. However, the association with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, obesity, and smoking was lower in the Indigenous population than in the non-Indigenous population. A greater vulnerability to social conditions was identified among the Indigenous population than the non-Indigenous population, mainly regarding income, education, and access to health services.

Determinants of poverty among Indigenous people in Mexico's Guerrero Mountain Region

AbstractMotivationThe eradication of poverty is one of Mexico's greatest challenges. This challenge is even greater for Indigenous communities, where seven out of 10 people were living in poverty in 2018. Despite the economic, social, and cultural impacts on Indigenous people, there has been scant literature addressing the determinants of Indigenous poverty in Mexico, while studies on the Guerrero Mountain Region (GMR) are scarcer still.PurposeThis study aims to identify the socioeconomic and contextual determinants of income and multidimensional poverty in the GMR, one of the poorest regions in Mexico and Latin America, inhabited primarily by Indigenous people.Methods and approachWe use data on 989 individuals in the GMR, collected during the 2018 Socioeconomic Conditions Module of Mexico's National Household Income and Expenditure Survey. To examine the main determinants of individual poverty, we use Bayesian logistic regression (BLR), which allows us to use the data to update information about the parameters and evaluate their distributional properties. The method simplifies multi‐causal elements by classifying them into categories of well‐being that incorporate more than economic factors.FindingsThe income‐poor population is also multidimensionally poor. Education helps to reduce poverty as households that spend more on schooling are less likely to be poor. Households with many members, those with high dependency ratios, and those with members living with disability all tend to be poor. Households with access to landlines and the internet are less likely to be poor.Policy implicationsMore diagnosis of poverty is needed. This should consider overlapping vulnerabilities (institutional, socioeconomic, environmental, and sociocultural) in this region for each Indigenous group. Public policies need to be monitored for performance.

Coping with climate change: The role of climate related stressors in affecting the mental health of young people in Mexico.

Young people today are predicted to experience more climate change related stressors and harms than the previous generation, yet they are often excluded from climate research, policy, and advocacy. Increasingly, this exposure is associated with experience of common mental health disorders (CMD). The VoCes-19 study collected surveys from 168,407 young people across Mexico (ages 15-24 years) through an innovative online platform, collecting information on various characteristics including CMD and experience of recent climate harms. Logistic regression models were fit to explore characteristics associated with CMD. Structural equation models were fit to explore pathways between exposure, feeling of concern about climate change, and a sense of agency (meaning the respondent felt they could help address the climate crisis) and how these relate to CMD. Of the respondents, 42% (n = 50,682) were categorized as experiencing CMD, higher among those who experienced a climate stressor (51%, n = 4,808) vs those not experiencing climate stressors (41%, n = 43,872). Adjusting for key demographic characteristics, exposure to any climate event increased the odds of CMD by 50% (Odd Ratio = 1.57; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.49, 1.64), highest for heatwaves. Specific climate impacts such as housing damage, loss of or inability to work, damage to family business, leaving school and physical health affected were adversely related to CMD, though for different climate hazards. More concern and less agency were related to CMD through different pathways, particularly for those exposed to recent events. Future research regarding the cumulative exposures to climate change, not just acute events but as an ongoing crisis, and various pathways that influence the mental health and well-being of young people must be clearly understood to develop programs and policies to protect the next generation.

Examining the Nonstationary Spatial Association Between International Migration and Vulnerable Older People Living Alone in Mexico

Research on the intersection of migration and ageing is becoming increasingly relevant as older populations grow in developing countries. Understanding the challenges faced by older people, who are often left behind due to their vulnerable position, is essential for policy-making. This research examines the geographical variation in the impact of international migration on the living alone status of older people in Mexico, particularly those most at risk. The following municipal-level information was obtained from the 2020 Census: international migration, living alone, receipt of remittances, and disability. Using geographically weighted regressions, we found geographical variations in the association between international migration and living alone or being more vulnerable. Controlling for socio-demographic factors, in the southern states international migration is associated with a reduction in the proportion of adults living alone and greater vulnerability due to disability or lack of support from other households. This relationship holds for both men and women. However, in some border regions the proportion of older adults living alone and experiencing greater vulnerability increases with increasing migration, especially for women.

Anchor heuristics effect on heavy drinking in young people: Behavior economics perspective.

There is a need for theory-based approaches to reduce heavy drinking in youths. Anchoring is a process in which people make estimates by starting from an initial value that is adjusted to yield a final answer. In this study, we determined the effectiveness of anchoring heuristics in estimating the price of a bottle of alcohol and its effect on heavy drinking in young people. In a sample of 327 young people in Mexico, participants completed a survey on alcohol drinking and anchoring heuristics. We found that when the anchor was shown and the participants were explicitly directed to the anchor value, the mean estimates of the price reported by the participants increased, indicating that the participants were pulled up toward the anchor. Anchoring effects were found to affect on the willingness of the alcohol consumers to pay. In this context, alcohol prices (anchor condition) were higher for heavy drinking. We discuss the implications of our results and future directions for research on anchoring effects in heavy drinking. We concluded that anchoring provides novel insights into the consequences of anchoring effects in alcohol drinking.

Administrative and financial diagnosis of miscellaneous stores classified as microenterprises, in Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla

In Mexico, 80% of the tobacconists or miscellaneous shops, also known as “corner shops”, are considered within the informal occupation. Taking into account that these microenterprises are a source of employment for a significant percentage of the employed population, we consider it vital to carry out an administrative and financial diagnosis, which allows us to establish the basis for the creation of a business model that allows them to join the sector formal and modernize, which would be a significant advance for the country Trade is the preponderant economic activity in Mexico, since it brings together 50% of the country's economic units. Of the 153 kinds of activities in which the North American Industrial Classification System (SCIAN) divides trade, ten stand out, which accounts for 56.4% of the economic units and 47.7% of the total employed personnel. Among the 10 most outstanding activities of commerce (INEGI, 2009), the activity of grocery stores and miscellaneous stores, represents the highest percentage of economic units with 31.2% and total employed personnel with 19.2%, that is, every 10 commercial establishments, three are grocery and miscellaneous stores and for every 100 people employed in commerce, 19.2% work in this type of economic units. This means that miscellaneous stores represent a significant percentage of employability opportunities for people in Mexico and, if something is not done to modernize and become more competitive, their sales will decrease and, given the competition represented by the chains Convenience stores, such as Oxxo, will continue to lose sales until they disappear and, consequently, people who live from this type of trade will have to look for other sources of income. This research aims to apply the results of the administrative and financial diagnosis of the miscellaneous stores in Izúcar de Matamoros, Puebla (542, according to INEGI data), to design a management and control model that allows them to be strengthened and boost their business development, implementing a control administrative and financial, which also contributes to the job stability of those engaged in this commercial activity and decreases their mortality rate.

Sustainability framework of intelligent social houses with a synergy of double-façade architecture and active air conditioning systems

Social houses are built around the world to fulfill the basic needs of the growing population, especially middle-income families. Owing to the low budget available for such houses around the globe, necessary energy codes are often compromised. This research, through a methodological sustainability framework, presents the case study of Mexico with the objective to address this worldwide issue. More than 100,000 social houses were built in Mexico just in the year 2021 without strictly following any definitive building energy codes. Eventually, this is a ticking bomb, if left unaddressed, that can bring serious energy and environmental consequences connected with various social issues. Thus, as a research gap, the conventional 4E (energy, exergy, economic, and environmental) analysis cannot fully address such a complex energy-environmental-economic-social nexus. This work proposes an integrated sustainability framework of the practicability of the bioclimatic architecture of such a social house including energy, economic, environmental, and social assessment (novel addition to the analysis). The novel methodology is implemented on a novel technological advancement where double-façade architecture (i.e., solar chimney) is installed through a synergy and intelligent operation with an active air conditioning system including a desiccant enhanced air cooler and novel dew-point evaporative cooler. The article makes use of conventional physics-based modeling of thermal machines combined with an artificial neural network digital twin-based data-driven non-sorting genetic optimization of solar chimneys for various climatic conditions of Mexico. The optimal points are evaluated using annual climatic data to maintain the thermal comfort conditions and the results have suggested an increase of ∼48% through intelligent integration of double-façade architecture with the Maisotsenko cycle air cooler. Life-cycle economic assessment has suggested the Levelized cost of air conditioning be between 0.0096 and 0.0390 USD/kWh and can save up to ∼273 MXN per month with a real payback period of ∼8 years. Environment assessment has reported mitigation of up to ∼5668.59 kgCO2/year as compared to conventional vapor compression refrigeration systems. The social assessment is conducted on a pilot scale to directly ask the people of Mexico about their perception of the installation of the solar chimney while giving the fact that the initial price of the social houses can increase between 2.5 and 4%. It is reported that ∼62% of the sample is willing to install it even with a high price tag with a motive to initiate the climate change mitigation phenomena. The importance of the work has concluded that the government needs to take drastic and tough decisions to further regulate the energy efficiency in the social houses and limit the constructors to offer sustainable building construction.

Determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant persons

Vaccines reduce the risk of contracting and developing complications from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Pregnant people are at increased risk of disease-related complications but have a higher prevalence of vaccine hesitancy (VH) than their nonpregnant counterparts. This study aimed to describe risk factors and COVID-19- and vaccine-related perspectives that lead to VH among pregnant people in Mexico to target strategies to increase vaccine acceptance in this population. A cross-sectional survey-based study to evaluate risk factors and COVID-19- and vaccine-related perspectives associated with VH among pregnant people was conducted. Respondents were pregnant people of all ages attending a regular follow-up visit or admitted to labor and delivery in a third-level maternity hospital in Mexico. VH was defined as not having received a COVID-19 vaccine and either declining or being undecided to accept a vaccine during their pregnancy. We used bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models to estimate assess the relationship among demographic factors, COVID-19- and vaccine-related perspectives, and VH. A total of 1475 respondents completed the questionnaire; 216 (18%) were under the age of 18 years, and 860 (58%) had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In this sample, 264 (18%) were classified as vaccine hesitant. Key factors associated with VH were adolescence, having family as a primary source of information, first pregnancy, and history of vaccines in previous pregnancies. COVID-19 perspectives were also strongly associated with VH. Among pregnant people in Mexico, VH is associated with demographic factors, vaccination history, sources of information, and perceived risks to the fetus. This information is relevant to policy makers and health care professionals to identify those more likely to be hesitant and to inform strategies to increase vaccine uptake among pregnant people.

The spiral of disadvantage: Ethnolinguistic discrimination, acculturative stress and health in Nahua indigenous communities in Mexico.

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that ethnic and ethnolinguistic discrimination, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) related to being Indigenous as well as different aspects of acculturative stress, are associated with poorer health and higher levels of depression among the Nahua Indigenous communities. Our quantitative survey was carried out in four different regions inhabited by the Nahua people in Mexico. Self-rated health and depression, the symptoms of PTSD, two facets of acculturative stress and ethnolinguistic discrimination were assessed by questionnaires. The data were analyzed using binary logistic regression models. The symptoms of PTSD and acculturative stress experienced in the workplace were significantly associated with a higher risk of poor self-rated health, adjusted for various socio-demographic characteristics. Acculturative stress, discouragement of language use, language avoidance and ethnolinguistic discrimination were related to a higher risk of depression and PTSD. Our research implies that ethnic and linguistic discrimination, acculturative stress and the memory of harm linked to being Indigenous reflected in the symptoms of PTSD, are important predictors of poorer health and depression among Nahua groups in Mexico. These adverse effects could be significantly counteracted by effective dealing with stigmatization and discrimination against Indigenous people in Mexico and by replacing strong assimilation pressures with integrational approaches that respect ethnolinguistic diversity and reduce socioeconomic marginalization.

Youth in the face of disinformation: A qualitative exploration of Mexican college students’ attitudes, motivations, and abilities around false news

This paper aims to deepen our understanding of the relationship between young people in Mexico and disinformation, while shedding light on their practices and perceptions around this phenomenon. I have chosen a qualitative perspective to delve into the ways that Mexican college students interact and deal with the growing problem of false news in the current media landscape. Thus, I conducted semi-structured interviews (N = 28) using an elicitation technique, during which participants were exposed to real samples of disinformation content to encourage a conversation around the type of false news that they come across in their daily lives. Results reveal nuances in the ways that college students prefer social media over traditional media, even though they report finding more disinformation in the former. They also show the impact that students’ attitudes and habits have on their relationship with disinformation. Moreover, the study presents evidence that college students critically question disinformation, do not take it at face value, and are not prone to share it. However, findings also highlight differences related to the format in which the false content is presented. For example, TikTok videos were more likely to effectively deceive the viewer, more so than images shared on Facebook. Students also believe that older people are more likely to believe in disinformation, potentially indicating a third-person effect of this content. Lastly, this exploration emphasizes the need to further examine the broader consequences of disinformation and believing in false content, such as a reduced interest in political information.