ArticlePublic health nutrition2020
Four decades of socio-economic inequality and secular change in the physical growth of Guatemalans.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Use of WHO Growth Standards Rather Than Locally Specific Linear Growth Curves Promotes Equity in Pediatric Growth Research for Children Younger Than 5 Years.Nutrition reviews · 2026Review
- Nutritional anthropometry of children and adolescents in Spain in the middle of the 20th century (1934-1965).Public health nutrition · 2026Article
- Modeling Pubertal Growth Variability in Schoolchildren From Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil: A Bayesian Analysis.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Preschoolers in severely food insecure Guatemalan Mayan households consume a monotonous grain-based diet.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Contribution of the Distal Limbs to Height and Proportions in Different Socioeconomic Groups.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025Article
- Growth patterns in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy from Argentina and Germany.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Biological Well-Being and Inequality in Canary Islands: Lanzarote (Cohorts 1886-1982).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Nonlinear Physical Growth of Children from Infancy to Middle Adolescence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Journal of research in health sciences · 2021Article
- Development of a temporally harmonized asset index: evidence from across 50 years of follow up of a birth cohort in Guatemala.BMC medical research methodology · 2021Article
- COVID-19, crisis, and emotional stress: A biocultural perspective of their impact on growth and development for the next generation.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2020Review
- Plasticity in the growth of body segments in relation to height-for-age and maternal education in Guatemala.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2020Article
- Stunting and overweight among children in Northeast Brazil: prevalence, trends (1992-2005-2015) and associated risk factors from repeated cross-sectional surveys.BMC public health · 2020Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
objectiveTo investigate changes in socio-economic inequalities in growth in height, weight, BMI and grip strength in children born during 1955-1993 in Guatemala, a period of marked socio-economic-political change.
designWe modelled longitudinal data on height, weight, BMI and hand grip strength using Super-Imposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR). Internal Z-scores summarising growth size, timing and intensity (peak growth velocity, e.g. cm/year) were created to investigate inequalities by socio-economic position (SEP; measured by school attended). Interactions of SEP with date of birth were investigated to capture secular changes in inequalities.
settingUrban and peri-urban schools in the region of Guatemala City, Guatemala.
participantsParticipants were 40 484 children and adolescents aged 3-19 years of Ladino and Maya ancestry (nobservations 157 067).
resultsThe difference in height (SITAR size) between lowest and highest SEP decreased from -2·0 (95 % CI -2·2, -1·9) sd to -1·4 (95 % CI -1·5, -1·3) sd in males, and from -2·0 (95 % CI -2·1, -1·9) sd to -1·2 (95 % CI -1·3, -1·2) sd in females over the study period. Inequalities also reduced for weight, BMI and grip strength, due to greater secular increases in lowest-SEP groups. The puberty period was earlier and shorter in higher-SEP individuals (earlier SITAR timing and higher SITAR intensity). All SEP groups showed increases in BMI intensity over time.
conclusionsInequality narrowed between the 1960s and 1990s. The lowest-SEP groups were still >1 sd shorter than the highest. Risks remain for reduced human capital and poorer population health for urban Guatemalans.
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