IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ehbiol/v7y2009i1p96-106.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Body mass index, socio-economic status and socio-behavioral practices among Tz'utujil Maya women

Author

Listed:
  • Nagata, Jason M.
  • Valeggia, Claudia R.
  • Barg, Frances K.
  • Bream, Kent D.W.

Abstract

This study investigates the associations between body mass index (BMI), socio-economic status (SES) and related socio-behavioral practices including marriage and market visits in a population of adult Tz'utujil Maya women in Santiago Atitln, Guatemala, aged 18-82. Mixed qualitative and quantitative methods include cross-sectional anthropometric measurements and semi-structured interviews gathered in 2007, as well as participant observation and purposive interviews conducted in 2007-2008. The regional quota sample of 53 semi-structured interviews was designed to be representative of the cantones (municipal divisions) of Santiago Atitln. BMI was positively associated with years of schooling, income and literacy, all measures of SES. A statistical analysis of our data indicates that increased income, increased market visits and being married are significantly positively associated with BMI. Qualitative analysis based on the grounded theory method reveals relevant themes including a preoccupation with hunger and undernutrition rather than obesity, a preference for food quantity over dietary diversity, the economic and social influence of a husband, the effects of market distance and the increasing consumption of food from tiendas. These themes help to explain how SES, socio-behavioral practices and BMI are positively associated and can inform future public health interventions related to obesity and undernutrition.

Suggested Citation

  • Nagata, Jason M. & Valeggia, Claudia R. & Barg, Frances K. & Bream, Kent D.W., 2009. "Body mass index, socio-economic status and socio-behavioral practices among Tz'utujil Maya women," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 96-106, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:7:y:2009:i:1:p:96-106
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570-677X(09)00014-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smith, Patricia K. & Bogin, Barry & Varela-Silva, Maria Ines & Loucky, James, 2003. "Economic and anthropological assessments of the health of children in Maya immigrant families in the US," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 145-160, June.
    2. Mehretu, Assefa & Mutambirwa, Chris, 1992. "Gender differences in time and energy costs of distance for regular domestic chores in rural Zimbabwe: A case study in the Chiduku communal area," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(11), pages 1675-1683, November.
    3. Fernald, Lia C.H., 2007. "Socio-economic status and body mass index in low-income Mexican adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(10), pages 2030-2042, May.
    4. repec:bla:devpol:v:26:y:2008:i:2:p:227-243 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Sobal, Jeffery & Rauschenbach, Barbara & Frongillo, Edward A., 2003. "Marital status changes and body weight changes: a US longitudinal analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(7), pages 1543-1555, April.
    6. Sobal, Jeffrey & Rauschenbach, Barbara S. & Frongillo Jr., Edward A., 1992. "Marital status, fatness and obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 915-923, October.
    7. Stafford, Mai & Cummins, Steven & Ellaway, Anne & Sacker, Amanda & Wiggins, Richard D. & Macintyre, Sally, 2007. "Pathways to obesity: Identifying local, modifiable determinants of physical activity and diet," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1882-1897, November.
    8. Mehretu, Assefa & Mutambirwa, Chris, 1992. "Time and energy costs of distance in rural life space of Zimbabwe: Case study in the Chiduku Communal Area," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 17-24, January.
    9. Leatherman, Thomas L. & Goodman, Alan, 2005. "Coca-colonization of diets in the Yucatan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 833-846, August.
    10. Godoy, Ricardo & Reyes-Garcia, Victoria & Vadez, Vincent & Leonard, William R. & Huanca, Tomas & Bauchet, Jonathan, 2005. "Human capital, wealth, and nutrition in the Bolivian Amazon," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 139-162, March.
    11. Marini, Alessandra & Gragnolati, Michele, 2003. "Malnutrition and poverty in Guatemala," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2967, The World Bank.
    12. Averett, Susan L. & Sikora, Asia & Argys, Laura M., 2008. "For better or worse: Relationship status and body mass index," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 330-349, December.
    13. Morland, K. & Wing, S. & Roux, A.D., 2002. "The contextual effect of the local food environment on residents' diets: The atherosclerosis risk in communities study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(11), pages 1761-1767.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zeng, Wu & Eisenberg, Dan T.A. & Jovel, Karla Rubio & Undurraga, Eduardo A. & Nyberg, Colleen & Tanner, Susan & Reyes-García, Victoria & Leonard, William R. & Castaño, Juliana & Huanca, Tomás & McDade, 2013. "Adult obesity: Panel study from native Amazonians," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 227-235.
    2. Jason M Nagata & James Gippetti & Stefan Wager & Alejandro Chavez & Paul H Wise, 2016. "Prevalence and Predictors of Malnutrition among Guatemalan Children at 2 Years of Age," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Michael Gurven & Adrian V Jaeggi & Hillard Kaplan & Daniel Cummings, 2013. "Physical Activity and Modernization among Bolivian Amerindians," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-13, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kazuma Sato, 2021. "Relationship between marital status and body mass index in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 813-841, September.
    2. Quan, Shiwen & Zhang, Huiyun, 2024. "The relationship between Marriage and Body Mass Index in China：Evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    3. Cornelie Nienaber-Rousseau & Olusola F. Sotunde & Patricia O. Ukegbu & P. Hermanus Myburgh & Hattie H. Wright & Lize Havemann-Nel & Sarah J. Moss & Iolanthé M. Kruger & H. Salomé Kruger, 2017. "Socio-Demographic and Lifestyle Factors Predict 5-Year Changes in Adiposity among a Group of Black South African Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Cecile Jackson, 1998. "Gender, irrigation, and environment: Arguing for agency," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 15(4), pages 313-324, December.
    5. Mata, Jutta & Frank, Ronald & Hertwig, Ralph, 2015. "Higher body mass index, less exercise, but healthier eating in married adults: Nine representative surveys across Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 119-127.
    6. Zimmerman, Frederick J., 2000. "Barriers to Participation of the Poor in South Africa's Land Redistribution," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(8), pages 1439-1460, August.
    7. Susan Averett & Laura Argys & Julia Sorkin, 2013. "In sickness and in health: an examination of relationship status and health using data from the Canadian National Public Health Survey," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 599-633, December.
    8. Clark, Andrew E. & Etilé, Fabrice, 2011. "Happy house: Spousal weight and individual well-being," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1124-1136.
    9. Rong Fu & Haruko Noguchi, 2018. "Does the positive relationship between health and marriage reflect protection or selection? Evidence from middle-aged and elderly Japanese," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1003-1016, December.
    10. Wilson, Sven E., 2012. "Marriage, gender and obesity in later life," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 431-453.
    11. Zick, Cathleen D. & Smith, Ken R. & Fan, Jessie X. & Brown, Barbara B. & Yamada, Ikuho & Kowaleski-Jones, Lori, 2009. "Running to the Store? The relationship between neighborhood environments and the risk of obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 1493-1500, November.
    12. Esposito, Lucio & Villaseñor, Adrián & Rodríguez, Enrique Cuevas & Millett, Christopher, 2020. "The economic gradient of obesity in Mexico: Independent predictive roles of absolute and relative wealth by gender," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    13. Steckel, Richard H., 2009. "Heights and human welfare: Recent developments and new directions," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-23, January.
    14. Bellido, Héctor & Marcén, Miriam, 2016. "On the relationship between BMI and marital dissolution," MPRA Paper 73868, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Colchero, M.A. & Sosa-Rubí, S.G., 2012. "Heterogeneity of income and lifestyle determinants of body weight among adult women in Mexico, 2006," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 120-128.
    16. Diksha Arora & Codrina Rada, 2020. "Gender norms and intrahousehold allocation of labor in Mozambique: A CGE application to household and agricultural economics," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(2), pages 259-272, March.
    17. Fox-Rushby, Julia A. & Foord, Frances, 1996. "Costs, effects and cost-effectiveness analysis of a mobile maternal health care service in West Kiang, The Gambia," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 123-143, February.
    18. Robinovich, Jossiana & Bosma, Hans & Borne, Bart van der & Ossa, Ximena & Muñoz, Sergio & Krumeich, Anja, 2021. "Is a ‘culture of plus-size women’ the independent effect of neighborhood disadvantage on female BMI? A cross-sectional study in two Chilean Municipalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    19. Katherine L. Baldock & Catherine Paquet & Natasha J. Howard & Neil T. Coffee & Anne W. Taylor & Mark Daniel, 2018. "Are Perceived and Objective Distances to Fresh Food and Physical Activity Resources Associated with Cardiometabolic Risk?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-17, January.
    20. Heather Brown, 2016. "Birds of a Feather Flock Together: Correlation in BMI Categories in Long-Term Relationships," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 49(4), pages 453-470, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:7:y:2009:i:1:p:96-106. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622964 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.