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Download fileDeep data science to prevent and treat growth faltering in Maya children
journal contribution
posted on 01.04.2016, 10:19 authored by Maria Ines Varela Silva, Barry Bogin, J. Andres Galvez-Sobral, Federico Dickinson, Susana Monserrat-RevilloSusana Monserrat-Revillo, Growth and 6 Development – Knowledge Integration (HBGDki) Initiative Healthy BirthThe Maya people are descended from the indigenous inhabitants of southern Mexico,
Guatemala, and adjacent regions of Central America. In Guatemala, 50% of infants
and children are stunted (very low height-for-age), and some rural Maya regions
have >70% children stunted. A large, longitudinal, intergenerational, database was
created to (1) provide deep data to prevent and treat somatic growth faltering and
impaired neurocognitive development; (2) detect key dependencies and predictive
relations between highly complex, time-varying, and interacting biological and
cultural variables; and (3) identify targeted multifactorial intervention strategies for field testing and validation. Contributions to this database included data from the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Longitudinal Study of Child and Adolescent
Development, child growth and intergenerational studies among the Maya in Mexico, and studies about Maya migrants in the United States.
Funding
The authors are grateful for support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, and Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Unidad Mérida, Mexico.
History
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