LA GASTRONOMIA PREHISPANICA DE MESOAMERICA
Se caracteriza por su gran variedad de platillos y recetas, así como por la complejidad de su elaboración. Es reconocida por sus sabores distintivos y sofisticados con gran condimentación. Reúne tradiciones gastronómicas indígenas. La historia de la gastronomía mexicana se remonta aproximadamente diez mil años. Y fue domesticado el maíz para convertirse en el cultivo que después fue la base alimentaria de la las culturas mesoamericanas. Tenía como alimentos basicos: el maíz (mas de 40 variedades), frijol, chile, tomate, tomate verde y la calabaza.
Ademas de los anteriores, se empleaban también:
* Semillas: como cacao, amaranto, chía(salvia hispanica), cacahuate, girasol y piñón

* Vainas: como ejote, guaje, mezquite, huamúchil, hueynacaxtle, cuauhpinole y jinicuil
* Hojas: como quelites (papaloquelite, quintonil, verdolaga, entre otros), chaya y choyo;
* Flores: de calabaza, yuca, chocha, frijol, garambullo, colorin, huauhzontle, golumbos, cocuite, biznaga y alaches
* Frutos: como chayote, chilacayote, garambullo, mamey, aguacate, anona, chirimoya, papaya, guanabana, chicozapote, changunga, zapotes, ciruelas, guayaba, pitaya, pitahaya, tuna, xoconostle, entre otros.
* Raíces: tales como camote, jícama, chinchayote, yuca y guacamote
* Mas de 500 especies de insectos como ahuautle, chahuis, chapulines, chinicuil, cuetla, cupiches, escamol, gusano de maguey, tititococos, entre muchos otros.
* Animales domésticos: como el guajolote, las abejas, el pato criollo, así como perros xoloitcuintle. Se discute si los cerdos nativos (coyametl y pizotl) eran o no un animal domestico
* Ademas de variedades de peces, mariscos,así como aves y mamíferos salvajes (pato, chachalaca, chichicuilote, armadillo, liebre, venado, manatí, jabalíes, etc.)
* Innumerables variedades de chiles (secos, ahumados y frescos) servían de condimento así como el epazote, el cilantro, la vainilla, el axiote, la cebolla nativa, xonacatl (conocido por el nombre cebollín), la pimienta de tabasco, la hoja santa y la hoja de aguacate.
One of each four (24.5%) between 5 and 64 years eat junk food every week. The people between 14 and 30 years have the highest rate and the consumption is higher in the urban areas. Another problem is the high consumption of soda; one of each five consume soda per day and one of each two per week. Finally in Colombia the consumption of candies is high. One of each 3 Colombians consumed dialy. 17.8% consume two or more times per day. The consumption is 12 percentage points bigger in the urban areas in comparison with rural areas

2.2 Breastfeeding and supplementary feeding.
In Colombia, 96% of the women start to breastfeeding their newborns and a little bit more of the half of the women does this practice in the first hour. In that practice the country had an improvement in the last 5 years (2005:49% 2010:56.6%). Nowadays the total duration in months of breastfeeding is 14 months, since 2005 that rate do not improve. The women who live in rural areas and with a low level in SISBEN breastfeed her children more time. The introduction ofsupplementary feeding start between 6 and 8 months. In the supplementary feeding of children under 3 years the most common foods are water, juices, agua de panela( traditional drink) and protein sources as beef, poultry, fish, egg. The consumption of fruits and vegetables is not common.

3. Nutritional deficiencies. The information that had National importance is taken from the National survey on Nutritional status Colombia (2005) (2010) (ENSIN 2005) (ENSIN 2010) and also the data that comes from the National survey on demography and health (ENDS). In these surveys the country was divided in 7 regions. East, Central, Pacific, Bogota, Orinoco and Amazon. SISBEN levels are used and those are related with the socio-economical capacity of the people.

3.1 Children under 5 years:
Those surveys show that the percentage of Chronical Malnutrition is about 13.2% that in an International level is considered as low prevalence. Between 2005- 2010 the reduction was about 17%. That leaves Colombia to 5.2% percentual points to accomplish the goal that was propose for the country in the objective of the development of the millennium to reduce the chronic malnutrition in children less than 5 years to 8.0%. The major proportion of chronic malnutrition are in the people that is in the 1, 2 level of SISBEN, in children with mothers that had less level of education and that lives in the Atlantic, Amazon Orinoco and Pacific region. The data showsthat Colombia is in the third pace of lower prevalence in Latin American countries.

3.2Children between 5 and 17 years:
The situation between the children of 5 years and 17 years shows an improvement; the growth retardation decrease 28%. Nevertheless 1 of each 10 children and teenagers between at those ages has retardation in growth. The high prevalence is in level 1 of SISBEN (13.4%), in children with mothers that does not have education (24.1%). In the rural area the prevalence is double in comparison with the urban area (15.2% vs. 7. 9). The departments with more problems are located in the Pacific and Amazon region. On the other hand the prevalence of obesity has increased a 25.9%. One of six children and teenagers
presents overweight or obesity and this relation increase with increasing the level of SISBEN and the educative level of the mother (9.4% for mothers without education and 26.8% with mothers with high education). In the urban area the percentage is about 19.2% and in the rural area about 13.4%

3.2 Adults (18-64 years
An increase in the weight of adult population is obtained in the surveys. One of two Colombians has overweight. The data shows an increase of 5.3 percentual points (2005: 45.9% and 2010: 51.2%). Is more common in females (55 % vs 45.6%). All the levels of SISBEN show high prevalence that is over 45%. The proportion is the same for all the departments and the prevalence is higher inurban areas (52.5%) that are over the national mean.

3.4 Anemia
One of each 6 children between 1 to 4 years and 1 of 6 pregnant women of the sample has anemia; this proportion is of 11% in teenagers between 13 and 17 years. Is frequently t in rural areas and in the population that is classified in 1 and Entre los utensilios empleados por los antiguos mexicano, destacan el comal, el molcajete, el metate, las ollas de barro, las jícaras de guajes, y bules para trasportar el agua: Como técnicas de preparación se pueden observan: huatape, cacube, mextlapiques, mixotes, moles, nixtamal, pib, pilte, pinole, pipian, tatemar, siguamonte.

PLATILLOS PREHISPANICOS
Atole, chacal, chocolate, papadzul, pascal, pozol, caldo de jaiba, mole de guajolote, tamales, tlalpanile, entre otros.
La cocina prehispanica disponía de pocas técnicas de elaboración, la mas importante era la nixtamalización del maíz, que aglutina los carbohidratos del almidón de maíz, lo que permite convertirle en masa, esa técnica obviamente era desconocida en todo el mundo, salvo en México y ciertos países de América central. Otra técnica era la cocción a vapor –empleada por ejemplo, en la confección del tamal- o el horno de tierra cuya fuente de calor se da por piedras calentadas durante horas a la leña con las que se preparan por ejemplo la barbacoa y el zacahuil.



[ 1 ]. La cocina prehispanica y colonial
Marco Buenrostro, Cristina Barros

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastronom%C3%ADa_prehisp%C3%A1nica_de_Mesoam%C3%A9rica
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