EATING HABITS ASSOCIATED WITH OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY IN MEXICAN ADULTS: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Objective: To describe published findings on eating habits and their relationship with overweight and obesity in Mexican adults. Materials and Methods: Integrative review based on 5 steps suggested by Crossetti, using the keywords “feeding habits”, “overweight”, “obesity” and “Mexican adults” along with Boolean operators “AND” and “OR” in the Scielo, PubMed, Conricyt, Scopus and WOS databases, with publications in Spanish and English, between the years 2005 and 2020. Results: 64 articles were identified and 52 were discarded, leaving 12 that complied with the inclusion criteria. The articles were extensively analyzed, identifying 4 categories: 1) Housing area; 2) Socioeconomic stratum; 3) Gender and 4) Culture; each of them divided into subcategories. Conclusions: Rural areas report higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, cereals, vitamins and lower caloric consumption, while in urban areas more fat, processed food, refined sugars and fewer vegetables, fruits and cereals are consumed. A higher socioeconomic stratum is associated with a less caloric diet and more natural food. Men consume more meat, fat and alcohol, while women consume more carbohydrates and refined sugars. Regarding cultural issues, people report distractions at mealtime, such as cell phone use, low water consumption and high consumption of soft drinks (70%); they also refer to barriers to healthy eating, such as work, eating meals quickly without considering the quality of food. These findings suggest considering socioeconomic and cultural factors in the preventive actions that nursing professionals carry out in clinical and community practice.