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Maternal Grandmothers’ Household Residency, Children’s Growth, and Body Composition Are Not Related in Urban Maya Families from Yucatan

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Abstract

This study analyzes the influence of grandmothers’ household residency on the presence of low height-for-age and excessive fat (FMI = fat mass [kg]/height [m2]), waist circumference, and sum of triceps and subscapular skinfolds in a sample of 247 6- to 8-year-old urban Maya children from Yucatan, Mexico. Between September 2011 and January 2014, we obtained anthropometric and body composition data from children and mothers, as well as socioeconomic characteristics of participants and households. Grandmothers’ place of residence was categorized as either in the same household as their grandchildren (n = 71) or in separate households (n = 176). Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between grandmothers’ residency and outcome variables. Models were adjusted for maternal anthropometric characteristics and the following socioeconomic variables: family size, location, maternal education, monthly family income, and household crowding. Models showed that the presence of grandmothers in their grandchildren’s households was not associated with any of the outcome variables. In contrast, larger family size, overcrowding in the household, and lower family income predicted low height-for-age in children. Larger family size decreased the risk for being overweight based on the three parameters of body composition. Overcrowding in the household increased the risk for greater skinfolds thickness, while low family income increased the risk for higher fat mass index. The residency of grandmothers in their adult daughters’ households is not significantly associated with the outcome variables in this sample of urban Maya families. Instead, maternal anthropometric characteristics and socioeconomic conditions of the family have a greater influence on the overall growth of children.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank those who assisted in the field, especially Ms. Graciela Valentín Sánchez and Dr. Adriana Vázquez-Vázquez for taking anthropometric measurements, applying questionnaires, and organizing the fieldwork. Additional field assistance was provided by Ms. Paulina Cauich, Ms. Frida Gutiérrez, and Ms. Samantha Sánchez. We also appreciate the grandmothers, mothers, and their children who agreed to participate in the study. The project was funded by the National Science and Technology Council of Mexico; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de México (Conacyt), contract grant 168047.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones Silvio Zavala, Universidad Modelo, Carretera a Cholul 200 metros periférico norte, Yucatán, C.P. 97310, Mérida, México

    Hugo Azcorra

  2. School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

    Barry Bogin & Maria Inês Varela-Silva

  3. Departamento de Ecología Humana, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Yucatán, Mérida, México

    Federico Dickinson

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  1. Hugo Azcorra
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  2. Barry Bogin
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  3. Federico Dickinson
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  4. Maria Inês Varela-Silva
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Contributions

Hugo Azcorra formulated the research question, analyzed the data, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Barry Bogin, Federico Dickinson, and Maria Inês Varela-Silva provided analytical and intellectual content in subsequent drafts of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hugo Azcorra.

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Azcorra, H., Bogin, B., Dickinson, F. et al. Maternal Grandmothers’ Household Residency, Children’s Growth, and Body Composition Are Not Related in Urban Maya Families from Yucatan. Hum Nat 32, 434–449 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-021-09402-y

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