Abstract
Background: Maya families suffered greatly during the henequen industry in the Yucatan, but the lives of the Maya women at the time were perhaps worse than anywhere in the world. Changes in Maya body height over the 20th century were assessed in order to show secular changes. The use of the sexual dimorphism index (SDI) allowed for the evaluation of the living conditions prevailing during the existence of the henequen haciendas to the Mexican revolution and a gradual improvement of these conditions by the end of the 20th century. Methods: In 1994, 364 men and 320 women aged 20-98 years were studied in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. They were divided into six age groups and by sex: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70+ years. Stature for both sexes, and age at menarche for women were considered. SDI in stature was calculated to assess living conditions. Results: There were smaller (0.25 cm/10 years) changes in height in men than in women (0.9 cm/10 years) and no significant changes in acceleration of maturation. SDI results showed changes from 9.9 to 7.6, and this may indicate a constant, but very small improvement of living conditions. The age at menarche of women did not show statistically significant acceleration with age. Conclusions: In the colonial period of the late 19th century until the Mexican Revolution, women were worse off than men. Previous research has shown that when living conditions change, men always react faster than women, e.g. by lowering or increasing body height. Our study of the Maya population in the 20th century showed otherwise; female height increased more than male height. This may reflect that the living conditions of Maya men have not changed over the 20th century, but have improved for women.
Highlights
Maya families suffered greatly during the henequen industry in the Yucatan, but the lives of the Maya women at the time were perhaps worse than anywhere in the world
Poor diets and the lack of sufficient food led to starvation for many laborers, and suicide was not uncommon
The effect of age and secular trend on body height of adults was assessed using regression analysis of height and height corrected for the effect of aging after 30 years of age on the year of birth (Trotter & Gleser (1951) prediction of the aging process (0.06 cm per year) was used)
Summary
Maya families suffered greatly during the henequen industry in the Yucatan, but the lives of the Maya women at the time were perhaps worse than anywhere in the world. Methods: In 1994, 364 men and 320 women aged 20-98 years were studied in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. They were divided into six age groups and by sex: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70+ years. Previous research has shown that when living conditions change, men always react faster than women, e.g. by lowering or increasing body height. Our study of the Maya population in the 20th century showed otherwise; female height increased more than male height. This may reflect that the living conditions of Maya men have not changed over the 20th century, but have improved for women
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