Socioeconomic Status and Prevalence of Obesity in a Mexican American Community

Brownsville, Texas is the southernmost county in the state, Cameron County, which is directly located at the US/Mexico border, the red section below, and is highly influenced by both Mexican and American cultures. 

This Southern county was the focus of a recent study, intending to analyze the prevalence of obesity and other health issues in a specifically Mexican-American community. Between 2004 and  2007, researchers extensively studied 810 people between the ages of 35 and 64 years, recording their weight and height (thus calculating their BMI), as well as running blood tests to determine glucose levels. Researchers then organized their results in accordance to their income levels, to determine whether there was a correlation between obesity levels and lower incomes. 

The map above illustrates the distribution in location and the density of the participants in the first and third quartile. The first quartile refers to those with incomes lower than $17,830, and the third between $24,067 and $31,747. These divisions were chosen as socioeconomic markers, to divide up the data and show clearly how income levels affect health.

This research project was incredibly eye-opening in the lack of access to adequate health care, as a majority of participants did not have any sort of medical insurance and were too young to qualify for Medicare. Further, “nearly 1 in 10 of all participants in the lower SES stratum were informed through this study that they have diabetes,” which could lead to catastrophic and even deadly complications down the road if this serious disease had not been discovered (p.4). Although there was only a small change in obesity levels between the first and fourth quartiles, there was a significant increase in the number of cases in diabetes in the first compared to the fourth. Therefore, GIS technology is particularly useful  in this type of research as it clearly illustrates the prevalence of health issues in urban areas, as there are "high rates of diabetes, particularly undiagnosed diabetes, in the poorest of our poor who have little or no access to health care through insurance," which is often not a subject discussed, but clearly is a major problem in today's society (p.5). 

Fisher-Hoch SP, Rentfro AR, Salinas JJ, Pérez A, Brown HS, Reininger BM, et al. (2010). Socioeconomic status and prevalence of obesity and diabetes in a Mexican American community, Cameron County, Texas, 2004-2007. Preventing Chronic Disease 7(3). Retrieved from https://lms.southwestern.edu/file.php/4373/Literature/Wilson-2010-OBESITY_MEXICAN_AMERICANS.pdf