Social inequality and childrens growth in Guatemala.

Population researchers used data from the 1987 National Survey of Maternal and Child Health 1981 census of population and housing and the 1979 agricultural census to examine the relationship between land distribution land tenure occupation and other characteristics of family socioeconomic status with childrens growth between the ages of 3 months to 36 months in Guatemala. 57.8% of the children were stunted. 71.9% of the children lived in rural areas characterized as poor and in inferior living conditions. Characteristics influencing childrens growth included ethnicity (indigenous children shorter than ladinos) fathers occupation (agriculture or unskilled occupations had a negative effect on growth) land distribution (the smaller the farm the greater the deficit in height) and maternal education. Children living at altitudes greater than 1500 meters were shorter than those living at elevations less than 1500 meters (p < 0.05). Land scarcity poorer agricultural conditions and greater distance from transport networks and other public services were likely responsible for the association between altitude and growth. Indigenous populations were more likely to live at higher elevations than ladinos partly because over the last 200 years ladinos appropriated the more productive accessible and desirable lands at moderate elevations. Fathers occupation land ownership housing quality possession of consumer goods residency and size of farms in area accounted for about 24% of the variation in height-for-age. These findings show that poverty and poor living conditions for most of the population adversely affect childrens growth.