Internship overview

I arrived in Oaxaca two weeks ago when the swine influenza was on everyone’s minds so I decided to begin this blog with info about the internship and some thoughts about the reaction in Mexico to the H1N1 virus.

The main objective of this summer internship is to identify through interviews the perceptions, practices, and content of the traditional diet in Zimatlan, Oaxaca and neighboring towns. This information is related to binational efforts to decrease lead poisoning risks associated with food and promote traditional indigenous diets as protective of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.  An overarching objective is to promote international collaboration in addressing the binational problem of lead contamination in the Zimatlan-Seaside community.  The principal investigator is Dr. Margaret Handley and I am also working under the supervision of Dr. James Grieshop.

Outbreak investigations in Seaside led by Dr. Handley, in Monterey County, identified two major risk factors for lead poisoning: eating foods imported from Oaxaca, Mexico and having originated from the Zimatlan area of Oaxaca. Effects of lead poisoning in children are of particular concern and include learning disabilities, behavioral problems and even death at very high levels. Lead testing showed that chapulines (fried grasshoppers) contained up to 2,300 ppm of lead although measurements varied widely. Zimatlan is a poor Zapotec indigenous community with high rates of migration to California. Large packages of traditional foods (including chapulines) are transported on a regular basis from Oaxaca to Monterey County and maintain social ties between Zapotec communities.

This research project is a step towards discovering how to best support healthy aspects of traditional diets, while creating concern and awareness of environmental hazards. A better understanding of the context surrounding lead contamination of traditional foods in Zimatlan, Oaxaca is critical to the development of effective culturally sensitive interventions to decrease lead poisoning cases both in the US and in Mexico.