Despite having one of the strongest economies in Latin America, over half of all Guatemalan citizens live in poverty. Those who identify as indigenous are disproportionately affected by poverty, chronic malnutrition, non-communicable disease, low literacy levels, and maternal and infant mortality compared to non-indigenous citizens.

Concurrent with a higher risk of living in poverty, many indigenous Guatemalans also struggle with food insecurity. Many families in the Western Highlands live in food deserts which, when combined with the trend in growing food for export rather than consumption, poverty, poor transportation infrastructure, limited employment opportunities, and geographical isolation, makes food insecurity and nutrient-poor dietary patterns all too common. While most Guatemalans consume an adequate number of calories each day, their dietary patterns tend to be nutrient-poor and are increasingly composed of foods high in added sugars, sodium, and solid fats.

From 1960 to 1996, Guatemala experienced a civil war that resulted in the death or disappearance of over 200,000 people, mostly indigenous Maya. Most human rights violations were committed by the government against its own citizens. The injustice of this long civil conflict echo into today in the disparities that indigenous Maya face in accessing employment, education, nutrient-dense foods, potable water, and healthcare; the lack of accountability for crimes that occurred during this time; continued suppression of efforts to achieve that accountability; and widespread corruption.

Most of our service-learning opportunities are in the Lake Atitlan area of the Western Highlands of Guatemala. We work primarily in the department of Solola in the municipality of the same name. Our ‘home base’ is the town of Panajachel, about three hours by car from Guatemala City. Panajachel and other villages surrounding the lake are popular destinations for many tourists, both Guatemalan and international. Lake Atitlan itself is one of the deepest (and most beautiful) lakes in Central American and home to two indigenous groups: the Cakchiquel Maya and the Tzutuhil Maya.

The official language of Guatemala is Spanish, but the country is home to 24 different indigenous languages, 22 are Mayan. The languages spoken in the Lake Atitlan area are Mayan Kaqchikel and Mayan Tz’utujil.

To learn more about Guatemala, please check out these resources:

• A timeline of Guatemalan history
• Guatemalan civil war
• Guatemala from the US Department of State
• The World Factbook of the CIA: Guatemala
• The World Bank: Guatemala

Citations

• Image credit: UN Women, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED. The women pictured are survivors of the Sepur Zarco atrocity that occured during the Guatemalan Civil War. They are one of the few groups of survivors who have managed to hold some of the perpretrators of the atrocities responsible for their crimes. See https://www.flickr.com/photos/unwomen/45385291432 for more.
• Center for Justice and Accountability. (n.d.). Guatemala. https://cja.org/where-we-work/guatemala/
• Chomat AM, Solomons NW, Koski KG, Wren HM, Vossenaar M, Scott ME. Quantitative Methodologies Reveal a Diversity of Nutrition, Infection/Illness, and Psychosocial Stressors During Pregnancy and Lactation in Rural Mam-Mayan Mother-Infant Dyads From the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Food Nutr Bull. 2015 Dec;36(4):415–40.
• Doak CM, Campos Ponce M, Vossenaar M, Solomons NW. The stunted child with an overweight mother as a growing public health concern in resource-poor environments: a case study from Guatemala. Ann Hum Biol. 2016;43(2):122–30.
• Ford ND, Jaacks LM, Martorell R, Mehta NK, Perrine CG, Ramirez-Zea M, et al. Dietary patterns and cardio-metabolic risk in a population of Guatemalan young adults. BMC Nutr. 2017 Jul 28;3(1):68.
• Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Vida 2014 Tomo I [National Survey of Living Conditions 2014 Volume I]. Guatemala City; 2016.
• Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Estadísticas Demograficas y Vitales 2014 [Demographic and Vital Statistics 2014]. Guatemala City; 2015 p. 1–30.
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica. Pobreza y Desarrollo: Un enfoque departmental [Poverty and Development: A departmental approach]. Guatemala City; 2011 Nov p. 1–29.
• Lee J, Houser R, Must A, Palma P, Bermudez O. Association of the Familial Coexistence of Child Stunting and Maternal Overweight with Indigenous Women in Guatemala. Matern Child Health J. 2017 Nov;21(11):2102–13.
• Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social. Desigualdades en salud en Guatemala [Health inequalities in Guatemala]. 2015. (Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social –MSPAS/Organización Panamericana de la Salud/Organización Mundial de la Salud (OPS/OMS) en Guatemala).
• Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social. Situación de la mortalidad materna Informe de País 2013 [Maternal Mortality Situation Country Report 2013]. 2015.
• Ramirez-Zea M, Kroker-Lobos MF, Close-Fernandez R, Kanter R. The double burden of malnutrition in indigenous and nonindigenous Guatemalan populations. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Dec;100(6):1644S-51S.
• United States Agency International Development (USAID). Guatemala: Nutrition Profile [Internet]. USAID; 2018. Available from: https://2017-2020.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1864/Guatemala-Nutrition-Profile-Mar2018-508.pdf
• Webb MF, Chary AN, De Vries TT, Davis S, Dykstra M, Flood D, et al. Exploring mechanisms of food insecurity in indigenous agricultural communities in Guatemala: a mixed methods study. BMC Nutr. 2016 Aug 23;2(1):55.