Seasonal changes in body composition in children from Maya agriculturalists in central Yucatán, Mexico

Development policies have aimed to substitute subsistence agriculture for cash crops or other cash generating activities to encourage local farmers to depend on store-bought groceries available year-round instead of seasonal subsistence crops. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that increased dependence on store bought foods has decreased seasonal changes in nutritional status and fat mass in Maya Children from Yucatan, Mexico.

Weight for age (W/A), body mass index (BMI), and tricipital Skinfold z scores in children under the age of 10 years from 14 Maya rural towns with different degrees of development were compared longitudinally between scarcity and abundance seasons using a repeated measures analysis of variance. Height for age (H/A) z scores were also estimated.

Origin of food consumed corresponded to the town's degree of development. Nutritional status (W/Az) and adiposity, BMI, and tricipital z scores were significantly lower during the scarcity season in every community. W/Az, tricipital skinfold z, and H/Az scores were significantly higher in developed than in traditional towns, yet in both types of town W/Az and H/Az scores were below the WHO standard mean. Tricipital skinfold z score was only below the WHO standard amongst traditional towns during the scarcity season.

Increased dependence on store foods failed to eliminate significant losses in body fat during the scarcity season. This failure may be affecting linear growth and promoting a thrifty phenotype that is seen in short and stocky individuals with a tendency to accumulate fat during abundance seasons.