Overview of the nutritional status of the Mexican population in the last two decades.

T first national nutrition and diet survey on a probabilistic sample representative of the Mexican population was conducted in 1988. The Mexican National Nutrition Survey 1988 (ENN 88) established a baseline and laid the ground upon which more recent surveys have built upon. Originally developed and analyzed by a team of researchers at the Ministry of Health1 the data gathered for the ENN 88 was also evaluated by researchers at the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) who generated several publications about the nutritional status of the population and its determinants.1-7 Ten years later, the INSP sought financial support from the Ministry of Health and other organizations to conduct the second national nutrition survey. Care was taken to use a design similar to the one followed for the first survey in order to generate comparable information. Together, the Mexican National Nutrition Surveys of 1988 and 1999 (ENN 88 & ENN 99) generated a comprehensive picture of the extent, distribution and trends of nutrition issues in the country and associated determining factors over time. According to the ENN 99, the leading problems resulting from poor nutrition in Mexico were linear growth retardation (stunting), anemia and those resulting from several micronutrient deficiencies. At this time the rise of overweight and obesity was first identified as a public health concern. The results of the ENN 99 were disseminated to the scientific community and Overview of the nutritional status of the Mexican population in the last two decades