Childhood Growth Status of Eventual Migrants and Sedentes in a Rural Zapotec Community in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

The problem of physical selection of migrants from the perspective of growth status at school age of individuals who eventually migrated from a rural Zapotec-speaking community in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, was compared to the growth status of those who remained in the community. Growth status was based upon 23 anthropométrie dimensions for males and 20 for females. Measurements were taken on 336 school children 6 to 15 years of age in 1968. In a 1978 follow-up survey in the community, 174 individuals of the original cohort of school children still resided in the community (sedentes), while 132 migrated to Mexico City, but still retained ties with the community. Comparison of the 1968 growth status of the sedentes and migrants showed no significant differences in age and the anthropométrie dimensions. The results thus suggest no apparent selection for physical characteristics at these young ages. If changes occur between sedentes and migrants, they apparently develop after migration.