Probabilistic cognition in two indigenous Mayan groups.

Is there a sense of chance shared by all individuals, regardless of their schooling or culture? To test whether the ability to make correct probabilistic evaluations depends on educational and cultural guidance, we investigated probabilistic cognition in preliterate and prenumerate Kaqchikel and K'iche', two indigenous Mayan groups, living in remote areas of Guatemala. Although the tested individuals had no formal education, they performed correctly in tasks in which they had to consider prior and posterior information, proportions and combinations of possibilities. Their performance was indistinguishable from that of Mayan school children and Western controls. Our results provide evidence for the universal nature of probabilistic cognition.

Physical Activity in Latin American Immigrant Adults Living in Seville, Spain.

BACKGROUND: Self-rated health status of the Latin American immigrant population in Spain varies by gender, education and doing physical exercise. Physical activity patterns have not been described. OBJECTIVE: The aims are to describe self-reported physical activity in adult Latin American immigrants living in Seville (Spain) and explore relationships of physical activity with sociodemographic and health-related variables. METHOD: A representative sample of 190 immigrants between the ages of 25 and 44 years who live in Seville responded to the Centers for Disease Control's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (Spanish-language version) from May 2010 through May 2011. RESULTS: Physical activity (PA) was practiced by 66.8% during leisure time, 49.2% had a normal weight, and 20.5% were on a diet. The practice of PA was higher in women who had a normal weight, a good state of health and a higher education. Older age was associated with exercising during free time. DISCUSSION: Population-specific strategies are needed to improve the practice of PA among Latin American immigrants in Spain. Research focused on other emerging immigrant groups is needed.

A Community Health Worker Intervention for Diabetes Self-Management Among the Tz'utujil Maya of Guatemala.

Despite the high prevalence of diabetes in rural Guatemala, there is little education in diabetes self-management, particularly among the indigenous population. To address this need, a culturally relevant education intervention for diabetic patients was developed and implemented in two rural communities in Guatemala. An evaluative research project was designed to investigate if the structured, community-led diabetes self-management intervention improved selected health outcomes for participants. A one-group, pretest-posttest design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational intervention by comparing measures of health, knowledge, and behavior in patients pre- and postintervention. A survey instrument assessed health beliefs and practices and hemoglobin A1c (HgA1c) measured blood glucose levels at baseline and 4 months post initiation of intervention (n = 52). There was a significant decrease (1.2%) in the main outcome measure, mean HgA1c from baseline (10.1%) and follow-up (8.9%; p = .001). Other survey findings were not statistically significant. This study illustrates that a culturally specific, diabetes self-management program led by community health workers may reduce HgA1c levels in rural populations of Guatemala. However, as a random sample was not feasible for this study, this finding should be interpreted with caution. Limitations unique to the setting and patient population are discussed in this article.

Tensions in anti-colonial research: lessons learned by collaborating with a mining-affected indigenous community.

Community-based nurse researchers strive to develop collaborative partnerships that are meaningful to the health priorities of participants and relevant to their sociopolitical realities. Within the context of global inequity, intersecting forces of privilege and oppression inevitably shape the research process, resulting in tensions, contradictions, and challenges that must be addressed. This article has 3 purposes: to examine the political context of mining corporations, to describe common health threats and challenges faced by mining-affected communities, and to reflect on research with a mining-affected Indigenous community in Guatemala whose health and capacity for self-advocacy are impacted by a legacy of colonialism. Using an anti-colonial lens, the authors discuss 3 central tensions: community agency and community victimhood, common ground and distinct identities, and commitment to outcomes and awareness of limitations. They conclude by offering methodological suggestions for nurse researchers whose work is grounded in anti-colonial perspectives.

Criticisms of chlorination: social determinants of drinking water beliefs and practices among the Tz'utujil Maya.

OBJECTIVE: To explore social determinants of drinking water beliefs and practices among the Tz'utujil Maya of Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, through analysis of demographics, socioeconomic status, memory of historical events, sensory experience, and water attitudes. METHODS: Parallel mixed (qualitative and quantitative) methods, including participant observation, in-depth interviews based on a purposive sample, and 201 semi-structured interviews based on a regional quota sample, were used to collect data from March 2007 to August 2008. Data analysis included the use of grounded theory methodology and Pearson's chi-square test for independence. RESULTS: Qualitative results based on grounded theory highlighted how memory of the Guatemalan Civil War and Hurricane Stan, attitudes about Lake Atitlán water, and the taste and smell of chlorine influenced Tz'utujil Maya drinking water beliefs. Quantitative survey results revealed that differences in ethnicity, literacy, years of schooling, distrust of the water supply during the Civil War and Hurricane Stan, and current beliefs about Lake Atitlán and tap water quality were associated with significantly different water self-treatment practices. CONCLUSIONS: In accordance with social determinants of health paradigms, demographic, socioeconomic, social, cultural, political, and historical factors continue to be significant determinants of water-related health. Public health water interventions must address inequalities related to these underlying factors in order to achieve maximum effectiveness.

Children's attention to interactions directed to others: Guatemalan mayan and european american patterns.

This study investigated differences in attention and learning among Guatemalan Mayan and European American children, ages 5-11 years, who were present but not addressed while their sibling was shown how to construct a novel toy. Each child waited with a distracter toy for her or his turn to make a different toy. Nonaddressed children from Mayan traditional families (with little maternal involvement in Western schooling; n = 40) showed more sustained attention and learning than their counterparts from Mayan families with extensive involvement in Western schooling (n = 40) or European American children (with extensive family involvement in schooling; n = 40). The nonaddressed Mayan children from highly schooled families in turn attended more than the European American children. These findings are consistent with research showing that traditional indigenous ways of organizing learning emphasize observation of ongoing interactions.

Guatemala's green revolution: synthetic fertilizer, public health, and economic autonomy in the Mayan highland.

Despite extensive literature both supporting and critiquing the Green Revolution, surprisingly little attention has been paid to synthetic fertilizers' health and environmental effects or indigenous farmers' perspectives. The introduction of agrochemicals in the mid-twentieth century was a watershed event for many Mayan farmers in Guatemala. While some Maya hailed synthetic fertilizers' immediate effectiveness as a relief from famines and migrant labor, other lamented the long-term deterioration of their public health, soil quality, and economic autonomy. Since the rising cost of agrochemicals compelled Maya to return to plantation labor in the 1970s, synthetic fertilizers simply shifted, rather than alleviated, Mayan dependency on the cash economy. By highlighting Mayan farmers' historical narratives and delineating the relationship between agricultural science and postwar geopolitics, the constraints on agriculturists' agency become clear. In the end, politics, more than technology or agricultural performance, influenced guatemala's shift toward the Green Revolution.

Social Support and Physical Activity Among American Indians in Oklahoma: Results From a Community-based Participatory Research Study.

PURPOSE: Little is known about the contribution of social support to physical activity (PA) behavior among American Indians (AIs). This community-based participatory research study examined the prevalence of and associations between different types of PA social support and PA among AIs in rural Oklahoma. METHODS: Our tribal-academic partnership surveyed AI adults (N = 513) living within the tribal jurisdictional areas of 2 tribal nations. We used the Physical Activity Social Support (PASS) scale to assess 3 types of PA social support and Poisson regression to investigate associations between PASS types and self-reported PA behavior. FINDINGS: Over a third of participants perceived high levels of PA social support from friends (37%), family (35%), and overall (34%), yet only 29% reported regular PA (ie, 150 minutes or more weekly). Participants who exercised with pets/other were significantly more likely to achieve regular PA than those who exercised alone (PR 2.0, 95% CI: 1.4-2.9). Although not significant, compared with those reporting no/low support, participants with high friend PASS (PR 1.2, 95%: CI 0.9-1.6), medium family PASS (PR 1.2, 95% CI: 0.9-1.7), and overall PASS (PR 1.1, 95% CI: 0.8-1.6) were more likely to report regular PA. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of participants did not meet current recommendations for PA behavior, which underscores the ongoing need for PA effective interventions among AIs living in rural areas. Results suggest that exercising with pets/other could be an important factor for future intervention. Further research is needed to elucidate determinants of PA and test interventions to increase PA among AIs.

Organizational patterns in problem solving among Mayan fathers and children.

This study examined the social organization of Guatemalan Mayan fathers' engagement with school-age children in a group problem-solving task. Twenty-nine groups of Mayan fathers varying in extent of Western schooling and 3 related school-age children (ages 6-12 years) constructed a puzzle together. Groups with fathers with 0 to 3 grades more often constructed the puzzle through shared multiparty collaboration involving a common agenda, whereas groups with fathers with 12 or more grades more often structured their contributions through a division of labor. Groups involving fathers with 6 to 9 grades demonstrated patterns of coordination that fell between the other two types of schooling groups. Fathers with greater schooling were also found to propose more explicit division-of-labor plans to children than were fathers with no to little schooling. The results indicate that Western schooling may be gradually transforming the collaborative social organization of group problem solving of indigenous Mayan families.

Ethnomedical uses and pharmacological activities of most prevalent species of genus Piper in Panama: A review.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Piperaceae is the fifth largest family of plants in Panama. This review focuses on the ethnomedical uses of the most prevalent Panamanian species and biological activities of their extracts and/or constituents both in Panama and worldwide. Many species have a plethora of ethnomedical uses such as antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-Helicobacter pylori, antiulcer, antiprotozoal, estrogenic, insecticidal, local anesthetic, diuretic, and for women's health conditions. AIM OF THE REVIEW: The aim of this review is to compile all ethnomedical uses of most prevalent species of Piper in Panama, and their extracts or phytoconstituents worldwide, through a complete literature search, so that it may allow selection of potential unexplored Piper species for future research and development of phytotherapeuticals for important ailments. METHODOLOGY: This review conducted a thorough search in books and databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Sci-Finder, Scopus, ACS publications, Science Direct, and Reaxys (Elsevier), until October of 2017. The information provided in this review is based on peer-reviewed papers only in English. The key words used to search were: "Piper", "Piperaceae", "Panama", "Pharmacological activity", "Chemistry," "Toxicity," and "Clinical studies". Scientific names of the plants were validated through www.tropicos.org. Potential full-texts of eligible papers, irrespective of database, were identified. Study selection and data extraction were conducted by one author (AIS) and confirmed by others (MPG, ADA). The extracted data were summarized in tabular form and a narrative description was used to provide a summary of updated information. RESULTS: The ethnomedical uses of most prevalent 23 Panamanian species of Piper both in Panama as well in the world are provided. Of these species only Piper arboreum, Piper auritum, Piper cordulatum, Piper hispidum, Piper dariense, Piper multiplinervium and Piper umbellatum have ethnomedical uses in Panama. Some of the uses are by native Amerindians of Panama. These include ailments such as liver pains, common colds, skin infections, insecticidal, as a bath to alleviate colds, snakebites, different types of pains, skin ailments, wound healing, rheumatism, women's health, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory. Other Panamanian species are widely used in many countries of the world. Of all the Piper species, P. aduncum has the most ethnomedical uses. Panamanian uses are different from the ones in other countries. A total of 61 compounds present in Piper species reported in this review have shown a variety of biological activities in vitro. These compounds belong to different chemical types, such as chromenes, amides, alkaloids, benzopyrans, benzoates, essential oils, pyrrolidines, flavokaines, chalcones, methylenedioxy propiophenones, cinnamates, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, phenols, among others. From this review it is evident that extracts and pure compounds isolated from Piper species have shown a wide array of mainly in vitro activity and some ethnomedical uses may be correlated with their activities reported. CONCLUSIONS: Plants of this genus have provided bioactive species, both from crude extracts and pure compounds thus substantiating their efficacy in traditional medicine. In vivo and toxicological studies are still limited, but the results of different activities of Piper reported point out the great potential of these species for obtaining bioactive principles that may be useful in treating diseases. However, a thorough investigation of Piper species relating to chemistry, in vivo pharmacological activities, with emphasis on their mechanism of action, safety and efficacy and toxicity is warranted.

Concurrence and selection of sexual partners as predictors of condom use among Mexican indigenous migrant workers.

OBJECTIVE: To identify if the selection of mixed sexual partners and the existence of concurrent partners are predictors of condom use in indigenous migrant agricultural workers from Colima, Mexico. METHODS: Analytical cross-sectional study using an egocentric sexual network approach. Community interviewers applied a structured questionnaire to 192 indigenous migrant workers in a sugarcane agro-industrial context. Data were analyzed with binary logistic regression; odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI 95%) were estimated. RESULTS: In the logistic regression model, adjusted odds (OR; 95% CI) of steady condom use were lower within partnerships of the same indigenous ethnicity compared to other partnerships (0.30; 0.17-0.53), partnerships that were concurrent to other partnerships (0.27; 0.15-0.50), and partnerships that used illegal drugs during sex to other partnerships (0.23; 0.11-0.49). Those variables were actually associated with increased risk of unprotected sex (occasionally or never using condoms), and therefore exposures were unprotected. CONCLUSION: Sexual partners of the same ethnicity, concurrent partnerships and partnerships that use illegal drugs favor the low frequency of constant condom use and, in turn, the vulnerability to STIs and HIV transmission in indigenous migrant agricultural workers.

[Depression in Precolumbian Mesoamerican medicine]. / La depresion en la medicina mesoamericana precolombina.

AIM: To review the concept of depression and its treatment in the context of Precolumbian Mesoamerican medicine. DEVELOPMENT: The origins of Precolumbian Mesoamerican medicine (ticiotl) are imprecise, since the theoretical and disease-healing concepts of the times were doubtlessly influenced by magic and religious beliefs. However, the ticiotl was constructed on a 'theory' based on structured information integrated to the world philosophy, which included the social, religious and cultural behavior of the Aztec people. Health was considered a result of the balance between cold-hot polarity. Imbalance caused disease, which in turn produced a dynamic impairment of the body and its relation to the cosmos. Disease could be originated by multiple factors, e.g., by god-sent punishment, or caused by man's evil or by a destiny marked since birth. Depression, among other diseases, was identified in the ticiotl, and was attributed to alterations in the yollotl (heart). It was treated with plants such as quauhyayual, itzauhyatl and xoxocoatl, with animals such as hare, chicken and fish, and with some minerals. Also, recommendations were given to the individual on his life style in a magic-religious context. CONCLUSION: In Precolumbian Mesoamerican medicine, depression was identified, and therapeutic methods were developed which may be far from the modern medical concept, but at the time fulfilled the function of understanding and recovering the individual's health.

Traditional use and perception of snakes by the Nahuas from Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, Mexico.

BACKGROUND: Indigenous cultures are the result of their adaptation to the natural surroundings, in such a way that, amongst their main features is a set of knowledge, technologies and strategies for the appropriation of nature. In Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, Mexico snakes represent 71.1% of the total local herpetofauna; and in addition to this, different groups of Nahuas have shown to have information of their use of various snake species in many ways. This study was conducted to investigate the traditional uses of snakes in this cultural group. METHODS: Formal and informal interviews were conducted with the inhabitants of the communities. During these interviews, 30 images of the different species of snakes present in the area were presented to the subjects, so that they would recognize them and reveal information about the knowledge they possess on them. A usage analysis was applied to each species considering the following categories: food purposes, medicinal, artisanal and magical-religious. Likewise, the frequency, the diversity and the value of use was estimated for these snakes. RESULTS: A total of 51 interviews were carried out. The individuals recognized 18 out of 30 images of snakes that were presented. The total of usage categories was five; we found that the magic-religious use was the most mentioned by 32 personas. Boa imperator and Antropoides nummifer were the species with the highest value of use. More than half of the interviewees mentioned killing snakes because they're poisonous and aggressive. In the magic-religious aspect the "Danza de los Negritos" is highlighted; this is a local festival, brought by Africans, and alludes to snakes. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that snakes are still very important for the culture in Cuetzalan del Progreso, finding that the magical-religious and the medicinal use stand out. On the other hand, the fear and misperception on the toxicity of snakes might represent a potential threat for their conservation. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a long-term monitoring of the ethno-zoological activities, and develop a sustainable management plan compatible with the cultural characteristics of the natives of the region.

Young Children's Attention to What's Going On: Cultural Differences.

This chapter examines children' attention to surrounding events in which they are not directly involved, a way of learning that fits with the cultural approach of Learning by Observing and Pitching In. Research in instructional settings has found that attention to surrounding events is more common among Indigenous Guatemalan Mayan and some US Mexican-heritage children than among middle-class children from several ethnic backgrounds. We examine this phenomenon in a quasi-naturalistic setting to see if the cultural variation in young children's attention to surrounding events in which they were not directly involved extends beyond instructional settings. During a home visit focused on their younger sibling, 19 Guatemalan Mayan and 18 middle-class European American 3- to 5-year olds were nearby but not addressed, as their mother helped their toddler sibling operate novel objects. The Guatemalan Mayan children more frequently attended to this nearby interaction and other third-party activities, whereas the middle-class European American children more often attended to their own activities in which they were directly involved or they fussed or showed off. The results support the idea that in some Indigenous communities of the Americas where young children are included in a broad range of family and community endeavors, children may be especially inclined to attend to ongoing events, even if they are not directly involved or addressed, compared to European American children whose families have extensive experience in Western school ways.

[Is disease merely illness?: Biomedicine, "parallel" forms of care and power]. / Las enfermedades ¿son solo padecimientos?: biomedicina, formas de atención "paralelas" y proyectos de poder.

Following Giovanni Berlinguer's proposal that health/disease processes are one of the primary spies into the contradictions of a system, this article describes cases that occurred in central and peripheral capitalist contexts as well as in the so-called "real socialist" States that allow such a role to be seen. Secondly, we observe the processes and above all the interpretations developed in Latin America and especially Mexico regarding the role attributed to traditional medicine in the identity and sense of belonging of indigenous peoples, which emphasize the incompatibility of indigenous worldviews with biomedicine. To do so we analyze projects that were carried out under the notion of intercultural health, which in large part resulted in failure both in health and political terms. The almost entirely ideological content and perspective of these projects is highlighted, as is the scant relationship they hold with the reality of indigenous people. Lastly, the impact and role that the advance of these conceptualizations and health programs might have had in the disengagement experienced over the last nearly ten years in the ethnic movements of Latin America is considered.

Gender perceptions predict sex differences in growth patterns of indigenous Guatemalan infants and young children.

BACKGROUND: Nearly one-half of Guatemalan children experience growth faltering, more so in indigenous than in nonindigenous children. OBJECTIVES: On the basis of ethnographic interviews in Totonicapán, Guatemala, which revealed differences in maternal perceptions about food needs in infant girls and boys, we predicted a cumulative sex difference in favor of girls that occurred at ∼6 mo of age and diminished markedly thereafter. We examined whether the predicted differences in age-sex patterns were observed in the village, replicated the examination nationally for indigenous children, and examined whether the pattern in nonindigenous children was different. DESIGN: Ethnographic interviews (n = 24) in an indigenous village were conducted. Anthropometric measurements of the village children aged 0-35 mo (n = 119) were obtained. National-level growth patterns were analyzed for indigenous (n = 969) and nonindigenous (n = 1374) children aged 0-35 mo with the use of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data. RESULTS: Mothers reported that, compared with female infants, male infants were hungrier, were not as satisfied with breastfeeding alone, and required earlier complementary feeding. An anthropometric analysis confirmed the prediction of healthier growth in indigenous girls than in indigenous boys throughout the first year of life, which resulted in a 2.98-cm height-for-age difference (HAD) between sexes in the village and a 1.61-cm HAD (P < 0.001) in the DHS data between 6 and 17 mo of age in favor of girls. In both data sets, the growth sex differences diminished in the second year of life (P < 0.05). No such pattern was seen in nonindigenous children. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that the differences in the HAD that first favor girls and then favor boys in the indigenous growth patterns are due to feeding patterns on the basis of gendered cultural perceptions. Circumstances that result in differential sex growth patterns need to be elucidated, in particular the favorable growth in girls in the first year of life.

[Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding malaria in the indigenous Guna population of the Madungandí region, Panamá, 2012]. / Conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas sobre la malaria en la población indígena guna de la comarca de Madungandí, Panamá, 2012.

INTRODUCTION: Knowledge, attitudes and practices surveys allow to determine the degree of knowledge on the management of malaria in a given population, as well as the attitudes and practices that contribute or not to its transmission. OBJECTIVE: To identify the knowledge, attitudes and practices that favor or not the transmission of malaria in the indigenous Guna population of Madungandí. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted by applying a survey to the heads of the families in a sample of 40% of households in three communities with high malaria incidence. Local Guna residents and translators were part of the research team that applied the questionnaires. The statistical analysis was performed in Epi-Info 6.04. RESULTS: The age range of those surveyed was between 20 and 70 years. All responders indicated that they belonged to and spoke the language of the Guna ethnic group, 64% were male and 30% were illiterate. Half (51%) of the responders declared they had suffered malaria at least once in the last eight years, and 89% accepted that malaria was a health problem. Sixty-three per cent responded that their traditional doctors, “inadule”, cured malaria and 7.0 % practiced the “pipe smoking” and “cocoa burn” rituals to prevent the disease. CONCLUSION: Considering the limited knowledge about malaria and its vector, as well as the willingness to collaborate shown by the Guna population, it is essential to initiate educational and participative programs to improve control and prevention activities in the communities aimed at achieving a reduction in malaria incidence in the Madungandí indigenous region.