Maya families from Guatemala migrated to the United States in record numbers from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. Births to Maya immigrant women have created a sizable number of Maya American children. The height and sitting height of 5 to 12 years children (n = 431) were measured in 1999 and 2000. Leg length was estimated and the sitting height ratio was calculated. These data were compared with a sample of Maya children living in Guatemala measured in 1998 (n = 1,347). Maya American children are currently 11.54 cm taller and 6.83 cm longer-legged, on average, than Maya children living in Guatemala. Consequently, the Maya Americans have a significantly lower average sitting height ratio (i.e., relatively longer legs in proportion to length of the head and trunk) than do the Maya in Guatemala. These results add support to the hypothesis that both the height and body proportions of human populations are sensitive indicators of the quality of the environment for growth.

Migration of Maya refugees to the United States since the late 1970s affords the opportunity to study the consequences of life in a new environment on the growth of Maya children. The children of this study live in Indiantown, Florida, and Los Angeles, California. Maya children between 4 and 14 years old (n = 240) were measured for height, weight, fatness, and muscularity. Overall, compared with reference data for the United States, the Maya children are, on average, healthy and well nourished. They are taller and heavier and carry more fat and muscle mass than Maya children living in a village in Guatemala. However, they are shorter, on average, than children of black, Mexican-American, and white ethnicity living in Indiantown. Children of Maya immigrants born in the United States tend to be taller than immigrant children born in Guatemala or Mexico. Families that invest economic and social resources in their children have taller children. More economic successful families have taller children. Migration theory and political economy theory from the social sciences are combined with plasticity theory and life history theory (parental investment) from biology to interpret these data.

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The Sanctuary movement of the 1980s combined religious faith and social activism to provide refuge for Central Americans fleeing violence and persecution and to raise awareness of the responsibility associated with U.S. policy in the region. Features of the Los Angeles area, such as its large Latino population, provided support and a sense of community; in this sense the city itself was a sanctuary. The presence of many Central Americans who brought their experience and skills in organizing in their home countries to the development of solidarity and refugee organizations in Los Angeles were also an important resource for the Sanctuary movement. The development of the Sanctuary movement was characterized by the interaction of spiritual ethics and religious practice with activism in raising consciousness and providing legitimacy. The strength of the movement lay particularly in the profound experiences and narratives of refugees, shared through personal connections that spanned cultures and countries.Sanctuary began because people were responding to a human material need. But you very quickly discover, in the process, that it can't stop there. You're just putting on a band-aid if you don't address the total situation. -Rev. Donald SmithYou cannot be witness to human suffering and not be convinced of the condition of social sin. We are all responsible unless we take a stand and speak against it. -Father Luis OlivaresThe Sanctuary concept was to confront, as well as to help.

Objective. We explore how the health, as measured by physical growth, of children in Guatemalan Maya families is impacted by immigration to the United States. Methods. We analyze anthropometric data on Maya children in Guatemala and in the United States. In addition, we use survey data from the Maya-American children and their parents about lifestyle and SES to examine the factors associated with overweight and obesity. Results. The Maya-American children are on average 10 centimeters taller, indicating better health. However, nearly half the MayaAmerican children are overweight and 42 percent are obese. Children who report watching TV or playing computer games as one of their favorite leisure time activities face a higher chance of being overweight. Conclusion. Immigration from Guatemala to the United States improves the health of children in that they generally grow taller. However, immigration also raises the risk of weight problems, increasing the likelihood of health problems such as hypertension and diabetes. Immigration from developing countries to the United States may increase access to health care and clean water, but it also introduces some unhealthy lifestyle patterns, such as diets dense in energy, especially fat, and little regular physical activity. Indeed, Popkin and Udry (1998) report that second-generation Asian-American and Hispanic adolescents are over twice as likely to be obese as first-generation immigrants. Obesity is a risk factor for childhood hypertension and diabetes and can foreshadow health problems in adulthood.