We have published several papers focusing on the height of Maya groups in Guatemala, Mexico and in the USA. Maya groups in Mexico and in Guatemala are very short due to very hard living conditions, poor health and socioeconomic and political repression. For many years the Maya were considered the "Pygmies" of Latin-America and their short stature was assumed to be a genetic trait.
However, when our group measured a group of Maya who have migrated to Indiantown, Florida we found a very deep increase in stature - about 11cm in less then 10 years. Better living conditions, more education, basic health, vaccination, clean drinking water and a safer environment in general result in dramatic changes in height. On the other hand, a great percnetage of Maya in the USA are overweight or obese and this brings about a cascade of health problems that need to be addressed.
Check out our papers:
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