Malnutrition, stunting, development and evidence generation in Guatemala: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

The data regarding child malnutrition in Guatemala place it at the head of this issue in comparison to neighbouring countries. A significant interventionist effort took place over based all the traditional approaches to development. We present a systematic review of evidence that carried out these initiatives between 2014-2020. The scope and limitations of this project and the use of this evidence are discussed within a Policy-Evidence-Based model. Only 14 texts were included in the selection. The initiatives in the nutritional field are the most represented, but there is an appreciation for the relationship in the diversity of interventions implemented.

KEYWORDS:

• Undernutrition
• stunting
• evidence-based practice
• systematic review
• malnutrition

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Action Against Hunger, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and Global Affairs Canada for their support to the study derived from this Systematic Review. Four of the authors (B.R-J, D.C-C, L.L-L and L.M-J) are members of Grupo Interdisciplinar Sociedad, Cultura y Salud (GISCSA), that are funded by Programa Operativo FEDER Extremadura (2014–2020) and Fondo Europeo Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), under grant number: GR18143.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Authors’ contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation were performed by LMJ. LMJ, DCC, BRJ, CPM and LLLO did the initial search. The results were given to two teams made up of two people (BRJ and DCC) and (CPM and LLLO) who carried out an initial evaluation based on the title and abstract in an independent manner. LMJ resolves any divergent selection criteria within the groups for being the most experienced researcher. The first draft of the manuscript was written by and DCC, MGA, LMJ and BRJ. All authors reviewed and participated in editing drafts of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. All authors agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Financial support

This study has been carried out in the framework of the Food and Nutrition Security Programme of Action Against Hunger in Guatemala, and with the financial support of Global Affaires Canada (GAC) and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo; Global Affairs Canada; Action Against Hunger.

Notes on contributors

Borja Rivero Jiménez

Borja Rivero Jiménez Diploma in Social Education, Degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Master’s Degree in Social Science Research, University of Extremadura. He works at the “International Institute for Research and Innovation on Ageing” (4IE). He is member of the Interdisciplinary Group of Studies on Society, Culture and Health (GISCSA). Member of the International Commission on Anthropology of Food (ICAF). He has carried out research and published on qualitative approaches in health and ageing, loneliness, nutrition and care. He has been awarded the International Prize for Applied Research by the Portuguese Association of Anthropology 2020. He is currently working on his doctoral thesis on loneliness and depopulation in rural areas, in the “Diversity, Subjectivity and Socialization” doctoral program at the National University of Distance Education (UNED).

David Conde Caballero

David Conde Caballero PhD in Anthropology with the Extraordinary Doctorate Award. Author of the only doctoral thesis that has addressed post-war hunger in Spain from a culturalist perspective. Member of the Interdisciplinary Group of Studies on Society, Culture and Health (GICSA), the International Commission on Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (ICAF), the International Research Institute on Ageing (4iE+) and the International Network of Studies on Culture and Hunger (CIEMEDH-UNED). He has made multiple contributions to congresses, seminars and conferences dealing with the symbolic and cultural aspects of food and hunger. He is currently a full-time Professor at the University of Extremadura. PhD in Anthropology with the Extraordinary Doctorate Award.

Cecilia Pedret Massanet

Cecilia Pedret Massanet Anthropologist and Secondary school teacher. International Master in Contemporary Latin American Studies from the Complutense University of Madrid, University of Costa Rica and University of the Republic of Uruguay, and Master in Amerindian Studies from the National University of Distance Education (UNED). She is a professor tutor of the UNED University and a PhD student of the Doctoral Program Diversity, Subjectivity and Socialization Studies in Anthropology at the International Doctoral School of the UNED University. She is the vice-president of the Institute of Anthropology of the Islands (IAI) and the coordinator of the Latin American Studies Group of the IAI. Her research interests include ethnic identity, indigenous transnational migration, and the symbolic values of food.

Luis López-Lago Ortiz

Luis López-Lago Ortiz Anthropologist and Master in International Cooperation for Development, working in the Department of Computer and Telematic Systems Engineering at the University of Extremadura. He is currently developing research on public policies on aging at the International Institute for Research and Innovation on Aging (4IE+) and is a member of the Interdisciplinary Group Society, Culture and Health of the University of Extremadura (GISCSA). His research interests include the role of culture in public policies for International Cooperation for Development.

Miguel A García Arias

Miguel A García Arias is currently completing a doctorate in rural development from the University of Almería, after completing a master’s degree in rural territorial development at the University of Córdoba, and the degrees of agricultural engineer (University of Almería) and a degree in marine sciences (University of Cádiz). Since 2000 he has worked in international cooperation projects for development and humanitarian aid in Laos, Guinea Conakry, Bolivia, Paraguay, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Since 2014, he has served as Regional Director of Action Against Hunger in Central America.

Lorenzo Mariano Juárez

Lorenzo Mariano Juárez Diploma in Nursing, PhD in Anthropology. He is currently Coordinator of Relations with Latin America of the International Commission of Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (ICAF) and Academic Secretary of the Department of Nursing. He has been Deputy Director of the Office of Development Cooperation and Volunteering of the University of Extremadura for two years. He has been Coordinating Editor of the Social Sciences Journal ‘Revibe’. Extraordinary Doctoral Award, he was the winner of the second edition of the Best Doctoral Thesis Award of the G9 Group of Universities. He has been Visiting Professor at the Universidad San Carlos de Guatemala and Visiting Scholar at the Center for Human Rights and Peace Studies, CUNY, New York. Member of the research group “American Ethnology”, he is part of the “Food Observatory in Mexico and of the “Action Against Hunger Scientific Committee” in Guatemala. He has been working since 2004 in the Maya Ch’orti’ region of eastern Guatemala, interested in issues such as hunger, the anthropology of food and development or the logics and meanings of violence, areas that constitute his lines of Americanist research.