Hunger in Mexico

I chose Mexico not only because I have been researching Mexico for previous assignments, but I have an "adopted" boy in Mexcio. I sponsor him...and have been for the last three years. Part of the reason he needed a sponsor was his lack of food due to living in poverty.  As a birthday gift one year, he and his family recieved new pots and pans to cook in. It was hard to believe that was a birthday gift!!  


Statistics:

• According to the 2008 findings of Mexico’s National Evaluation Council on Social Development (CONEVAL), nearly 49 million Mexicans—over 46 percent of the country’s population—suffered from some form of food insecurity at the time of research.
• Of these 49 million, 25.8 were subject to what is designated as “light food insecurity,” while 13.7 million suffered “moderate” such insecurity, and 9.3 million “severe.”
• Included within these 49 million are said to be 11.2 million individuals who consume less than the line at which CONEVAL marks the base-line of extreme material poverty, in addition to nearly 2 million “chronically malnourished” children.
• World-Bank statistics from 2006 show that 15.5% of Mexican children under 5 are stunted by malnutrition; for comparative purposes, this rate compares to a stunting-prevalence of 16.5% among children under 5 in Lebanon, or of 15.7% in Thailand.

Implications:

•  In children, hunger results in stunting and inhibits the ability to concentrate and learn.
• If prolonged, hunger in children can inhibit brain development; such effects, like those related to stunting, are permanent and irreversible.
• Hunger also contributes to weakened immune systems, and hence problematizes health outcomes.
•  In countries undergoing nutritional transition, suffering from food insecurity and hunger have a higher risk to develop obesity and a metabolic syndrome during adulthood, particularly if they show rapid catch-up growth.

 

What's being done?Mexican organizations have begun to come together after years of divisions to respond to the food crisis and fix the badly broken system. They recently succeeded in reforming the Mexican constitution to include the right to food.



http://intlibecosoc.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/hunger-a-specter-that-haunts-mexico/

http://fpif.org/nafta_is_starving_mexico/

Witness to Domestic Violence

This was a tough blog for me. I personally have not experienced any of the stressors discussed or know anyone that has. So, I looked to my preschoolers. I have one child that has been witness to domestic violence at the young age of 3.5 years old. When he started in my class this past February, he was living in a battered women's shelter. Mom had a broken leg from dads abuse. He would come into class and put his hands around our neck when he was angry. He also did not talk and had screaming fits. This was all related to the violence that he saw. I am happy to say that he is now talking, happy to come to school, and is not having any screaming fits. He has come a long way and I cannot wait to work with him again this school year to see even more progress.

Immunization U.S and Mexico

I chose to research immunizations because immunizing children is such a hot topic in the United States. As educators we are all aware of the idea that certain childhood immunizations cause Autism. With the increase of Autism diagnoses, is this theory true, or is it just a coincidence?

I was curious about the immunization rates in the U.S.

U.S. statistics:

• in the US there are about 22 recommended vaccines from Birth - 18 years
• 17 vaccinations occur between birth and 18 months
•  in 2001 62.8% of US children 19-35 months were fully immunized
• 3 out of 1000 children had never received any vaccinations
•  unvaccinated children were more likely to be non-Hispanic white , have a mother who was older, married, and who had a college degree, and living in a household with an annual income of at least $75,000
•  undervaccinated (did not receive all recommended vaccines) were more likely to be black and often had young, unmarried mothers, and from a low socio-economic household
• 48% of the unvaccinated parents stated that they had a concern about vaccine safety
•  California, Illinois, New York, Washington, Texas, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Colorado, Utah and Michigan are the states that have the most unvaccinated children.
• Between the years 1995-2000 the number of unvaccinated children in the US increased

Mexico statistics:

• In Mexico there are 16 recommended vaccines from Birth -18 years
• 7 vaccinations occur between birth and 18 months
• 96% of Mexican children birth - 4 years are vaccinated
• if parents are late getting children vaccinated, a public health nurse will come to their house and vaccinate the children
• the government divides its poor neighborhoods into sections of about four square blocks each, then puts a nurse in charge of supervising parents in each area to ensure all of the children are vaccinated on time
• a nurse in charge of immunizations in a particular neighborhood keeps a census of the area, including maps detailing where women of child-bearing age live
•  children also receive a government-issued National Vaccination Record, on which the vaccines they receive throughout their lives will be tallied. The vaccine record must be presented in order to enter school, to get passports or other identification papers and even to get some jobs and loans

It seems that Mexico is taking vaccinations seriously.  Even though they do not have as much money and or resources as the US, they are still able to vaccinate many children. It is great to see the country being aware of the low socio-economic population and creating resources to make sure that population is taken care of.








http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/811040/posts

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/downloads/child/binational-schedule-pr.pdf

http://www.immunizationinfo.org/science/demographics-unvaccinated-children