Secular trend for stature in adult male Yucatec Maya to 1968

Abstract

Statures for 64 adult male Yucatec Maya (18 + years old, sons of campesinos) were measured in 1968 and compared with mean statures presented in results for previous studies. There were no significant changes in mean stature since 1895. If the sample is divided into 5-year age groups, no secular trend is evident. Using osteological information from as early as the Late Preclassic, stature of adult Maya males has decreased 119 mm in a little more than 20 centuries (-0.06 cm/decade). Comparing the results with measurements from other Mesoamerican groups, only one--the Otomí--show evidence of significant secular change. It is possible that modern economic development schemes in Mesoamerica are too recent or ineffective to have had an effect on stature.