Puerto Vallarta and Mexico celebrate health with "PROGRESS"
Last month marked 17 years since the most important research program for Mexico was created, especially in areas such as obesity, growth, the environment, and social stress factors. International specialists gathered at the National Institute of Public Health to participate in the 2024 meeting with the team that is part of the "PROGRESS" study.
The seminar lasted for two days, during which attendees shared some of their research work developed in the study with their colleagues. These included effects of prenatal exposure to metals on microbiota and childhood health, as well as sexual maturation of adolescents. Topics such as prenatal stress effects, plastic exposure, pesticides, air pollution on the cognitive development of teenagers, and the effect of artificial light as a sleep disruptor in the same age group were also addressed.
Distinguished and successful doctors and researchers from around the world participated in the seminar, such as Megan Horton, Manish Arora, Maria José Rosa, Elena Colicino, Dinesh Barupal, from the Icahn School of Medicine; Todd Jusko from the University of Rochester Medical Center; Lisa Roberts from the University of Michigan; Eduardo Lazcano, Bernardo Hernández, directors of the INSP, and Héctor Lamadrid and José Luis Figueroa, among other distinguished researchers.
The benefits that "PROGRESS" brings to Puerto Vallarta are particularly in measurements to develop statistics that serve to regulate obesity, diabetes, and other diseases, but also, and no less importantly, the fight against underage pregnancies, which have a very high rate here in Puerto Vallarta. The commitment to maintaining progressive health is everyone's, not just the obese and pregnant, or those suffering from these health problems.
The goal proposed by PROGRESS is to address issues before they arise, meaning to maintain awareness campaigns and education for young people to prevent and avoid both diseases and events that threaten the health of Vallarta families, taking into account that environmental care is precisely about protecting the health not only of humans but also of all living beings that interact in this large ecosystem.