Background: Globally, the prevalence of child stunting has been decreasing over the past decades. However, in low- and middle-income countries such as Mexico, stunting is still the most prevalent form of undernutrition affecting a large number of children in the most vulnerable conditions. Breastfeeding has been identified as one of the key affordable and modifiable maternal health behaviors protecting against child stunting. Objective: To examine the association between breastfeeding (defined as never breastfed, any breastfeeding for <6 months, and any breastfeeding for ≥6 months) and other individual-, household-, and area-level factors with child stunting (defined as length/height-for-age-z-score for sex under –2 standard deviations of the World Health Organization child growth standards’ median) in Mexico. Methods: Secondary data analysis using the 2012 Mexican Health and Nutrition Survey, which allowed representativeness of rural and urban areas at national level and among 4 regions in Mexico. Our subset included data on 2,089 singleton Mexican children aged 6–35 months with information on previously identified risk and protective factors for stunting. We conducted fixed- and mixed-effects logistic regression models sequentially controlling for each level of factors. Findings: Overall, 12.3% of children were stunted and 71.1% were breastfed for ≥6 months. Any breastfeeding and being female were consistent protective factors against child stunting across all models. In contrast, child low birthweight, maternal short stature, higher number of children aged <5 years per household, and moderate to severe food insecurity were consistent risk factors for child stunting across all models. Conclusions: According to our findings, efforts to reduce child stunting in Mexico should include prenatal strategies aiming to prevent low birthweight offspring particularly among short-stature women, moderate to severe food insecure households, families with a higher number of children aged <5 years, and indigenous communities. Postnatal components should include multilevel strategies to support breastfeeding.

Background: Globally, the prevalence of child overweight has increased over the past few decades. The largest burden of child overweight is identified among upper-middle-income countries, such as Mexico. Breastfeeding has been identified as one of the key affordable and modifiable maternal health behaviors protecting against child overweight. Objective: To examine the association between breastfeeding and child overweight while sequentially controlling for individual, household, and area factors in Mexican children. Methods: Secondary data analysis using the 2012 Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey which included risk factors for overweight on 2089 children aged 6 to 35 months and analyzed data to estimate fixed- and mixed-effects logistic regression models. Results: Overall, 9.0% of children were overweight and 71.1% of mothers reported any breastfeeding for ≥6 months. We found no evidence for a protective effect of any breastfeeding for ≥6 months on child overweight when compared to children who were never breastfed in the fully adjusted model and across all models (model 4, adjusted odds ratio [AOR] [95% CI] = 0.76 [0.31-1.86]). We identified risk factors for child overweight at the individual and area levels, with maternal obesity and offspring high birthweight being significant in the fully adjusted model and across all models (model 4, AOR [95% CI] = 2.26 [1.32-3.85] and 2.83 [1.44-5.56], correspondingly). Conclusions: Our results suggest shared obesogenic environment influences from which the overweight-obese maternal-child dyads are emerging in Mexican households. More research is needed to better understand these obesogenic environments grounded on the particular contexts among upper-middle-income countries.

Background: Breastfeeding offers the best nutrition during the first months of life. Scholars have identified a dose-response association between breastfeeding duration and reduced risk for child morbidity and mortality. In upper-middle-income countries, including Mexico, maternal employment has been negatively associated with breastfeeding duration. Despite increasing numbers of women entering the workforce and disproportionately participating in the informal sector, where they are un-entitled to paid maternity leave, little is known about how these factors may affect breastfeeding practices. Research Aim: To determine whether household income moderated the association between maternal employment status (defined as unemployed, formal, and informal full- and part-time employed) and any breastfeeding for ≥ 6 months. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using retrospective secondary data from the 2018–2019 Mexican Health and Nutrition Survey. The analytic sample included data about 2,156 children aged 6–36 months. We computed logistic regression models stratified by household income. Results: The association between maternal employment and breastfeeding duration varied by household income. Compared to unemployed women, among lower-income households, children were less likely to be breastfed for ≥ 6 months when the participants was part-time informally employed ( AOR = 0.30, 95% CI [0.13, 0.69]). Among higher-income households, children were less likely to be breastfed for ≥ 6 months when the participants was full-time formally employed ( AOR = 0.52, 95% CI [0.30, 0.88]). Conclusions: To increase breastfeeding duration, stakeholders need to continue strengthening and enforcing policies among formally employed women, and strategies are urgently needed to support women in the informal sector, particularly those in lower-income households.

This study documents the pivotal role that Community Health Workers (CHW) played while supporting underserved Latinx communities affected by COVID-19-related health inequities. With the support of CHWs’ agencies historically serving three Latinx-dense counties in Arizona, we recruited CHWs who participated in a state-wide COVID-19 testing project. Using phenomenology and narrative qualitative research methods, five focus groups were facilitated in Spanish between August and November 2021. Bilingual research team members conducted the analysis of the Spanish verbatim transcripts and CHWs reviewed the results for validity. Three interconnected themes reflected the CHWs experiences: (1) CHWs as puentes /bridges with deep community embeddedness through shared experiences and social/cultural context, (2) CHWs as communication brokers and transformational agents, playing a pivotal role in responding to the health and socioeconomic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, (3) CHWs satisfaction and frustration due to their dual role as committed community members but unrecognized and undervalued frontline public health workers. These findings emphasize the CHWs’ commitment towards supporting their communities, even amidst the stressors of the pandemic. It is important to continue to integrate the role of CHWs into the larger healthcare system as opposed to relegating them to short term engagements as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article provides a set of practice, policy, and future research recommendations, emphasizing the need to allocate greater budgetary and training resources in support of CHWs.

To examine breastfeeding, individual and household risk factors for malnutrition (i.e., overweight and stunting) among Mexican-origin children aged 6 to 35 months living in Mexico and the US. We ran logistic regression models using subsamples of the 2012 Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey, and four waves (2007-2014) of the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We found evidence for a protective effect of any breastfeeding on stunting in Mexico. Risk factors for overweight and stunting across countries were high- and low-birthweight, correspondingly. An additional risk factor for overweight was introducing complementary foods before 6 months; while being male, living in Mexico and moderate-severe household food insecurity were additional risk factors for stunting. To prevent malnutrition among Mexican-origin children, pre- and post-natal culturally-sensitive policies and interventions in both countries should be aimed toward preventing high- and low-birthweight, and promoting positive maternal health behaviors such as appropriate child feeding practices.