Longitudinal analysis of adolescent growth of ladino and Mayan school children in Guatemala: Effects of environment and sex

Abstract

The rate of growth in height and the timing of adolescent growth events are analyzed for two samples of Guatemalan children. One sample includes Mayan school children, 33 boys and 12 girls between the ages of 5.00 to 17.99 years, living under poor conditions for growth and development. The second sample includes ladino children, 78 boys and 85 girls of the same age range, living under favorable conditions for growth. The Preece-Baines model I function is used to estimate mean values for rates and timing of childhood and adolescent growth events for the two groups. Significant statistical contrasts (t-tests) of these means show Mayan boys reach the age of "take-off" (TO; the onset of the adolescent growth spurt) 1.45 years later, achieve peak height velocity (PHV) 1.68 years later, and continue growing for about 2.0 years longer than do the ladino boys. Despite the Mayan boys' increased duration for growth they grow significantly more slowly than the ladinos. Mayan boys are 6.60 cm shorter than ladinos at the age of TO and are estimated to be 7.71 cm shorter than the ladinos at adulthood. Mayan girls reach the age of TO 0.93 years later than do the ladina girls, but the two groups do not differ in the age at PHV or the age at adulthood. The mean height of Mayan girls is significantly less than that of ladinas at the age of TO (6.5 cm), and this difference increases to an estimated 11.14 cm at adulthood. Possible causes of these ethnic and sex-related differences in amounts and rates of growth are discussed in relation to hypotheses about the genetic and environmental determinants of human development.

Nutritional status of Maya children, their mothers, and their grandmothers residing in the City of Merida, Mexico: Revisiting the leg‐length hypothesis

“…Unfortunately, it is very common that familial conditions surrounding an undernourished child do not change during the years of growth. Indeed, growth deficits usually increase as Bogin et al (1992) reported that Guatemalan Maya children grow during the juvenile and adolescent stages of life. This is particularly true for social groups who experience transgenerational adverse socioeconomic conditions, such as the Maya.…”

“…Available evidence suggests that stunted children usually grow to be stunted adults (Bogin et al, 1992;Martorell et al, 1994). Reviews of longitudinal studies show that stunting during childhood is strongly linked to short stature and reduced lean body mass, reduced cognitive ability, less schooling, and lower income during adulthood (Black et al, 2008;Victoria et al, 2008;Walker et al, 2007).…”

How useful is BMI in predicting adiposity indicators in a sample of Maya children and women with high levels of stunting?

“…They are a poor, marginalized group of society, which also places them at risk for negative health outcomes. The Mayans tend to be very short, with high levels of stunting (Bogin et al, 1992;Crooks, 1994;Jenkins, 1981). Using data collected in 2007 from the same neighborhoods of Merida, Mexico sampled in this study, Varela-Silva et al (2009) found that 22% of 4-6-year-old Mayan children were stunted.…”

Ontogeny of sexual size dimorphism and environmental quality in Guatemalan children

“…This paper builds on previously published studies that evaluated Guatemalan Maya and Ladino sex-specific growth curves in height MacVean, 1983, 1984;Bogin et al, 1989Bogin et al, , 1992. Results of these studies indicate that the mean height of both girls and boys is greatest for the high SES Ladinos, decreasing for each of the lower SES groups.…”