SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGE AND PATTERNS OF GROWTH IN THE ANDES

Changes in the pattern of growth over a 20-year period are described f or a combined rural and semi-urban population in the District of Nunoa (Puno) in the southern Peruvian Andes. Over the past two decades, And ean regions have experienced many socioeconomic changes, including the implementation of agrarian reform policies and increased integration into a market economy. Local changes in Nunoa have included improved t ransportation networks, new markets, an expanded public school system, and improved health care facilities. Secular trends in stature and we ight have been found to be associated with social and economic develop ment throughout the developing world, including Peru. The purpose of t his paper is to present the findings from a re-study of growth in the Nunoan population, and to assess whether changing conditions in Nunoa have resulted in secular increases in growth. A cross-sectional sample of 1,466 children and adults and a mixed-longitudinal. sample of 404 children (age 3-22), measured between 1983 and 1984, are compared to s imilar samples collected from the same location between 1964 and 1966. Adolescents are taller, heavier, and somewhat fatter in the present p opulation, although these differences diminish or disappear in adultho od. Age of maturation, peak growth velocities, and cessation of growth may come 1 to 2 years earlier than in the 1960s. As was found in earl ier studies, growth velocities are low, the adolescent growth spurt is small, and sexual dimorphism is delayed. No secular trends in adult s tature were found. Thus, the effects of social and economic change on nutrition, health, and growth in the population are uneven and general ly unclear. This points to inequalities in access to the benefits of c hange throughout the region. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.