Alajajian Stephen, Strader Anahí Venzor, Martin Yolanda Juarez, Scott Caitlin, Rohloff Peter
Centro de Investigación en la Salud Indígena, Wuqu' Kawoq, Tecpán, Guatemala.
Boston Children's Hospital, Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston, MA, United States.
Front Public Health. 2025 Jul 9;13:1616498. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1616498. eCollection 2025.
Indigenous languages are integral to the individual and collective identity of humankind. Health benefits of speaking Indigenous languages have been demonstrated but may also be masked by various forms of linguistic and ethnic discrimination. Guatemala has experienced a significant degree of Mayan language loss and endangerment in recent decades. Recognition of the positive associations between Mayan languages and health may positively influence their trajectory.
We undertook a cross-sectional analysis of a pre-existing dataset from a clinical population of women from Central and Western Guatemala. We compared prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, obesity and underweight among Mayan- and Spanish-speaking Indigenous women, and among non-Indigenous women. We used multiple logistic regression to estimate adjusted odds ratios for each condition by language preference, controlling for confounding factors.
A total of 10,876 women were included in the analysis. Indigenous speakers of Mayan languages had the lowest prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and obesity, and non-Indigenous women had the highest prevalence of underweight. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, Mayan language preference was associated with decreased odds of diabetes [aOR 0.80, 95%CI (0.67, 0.94)], hypertension [aOR 0.80, 95%CI (0.71, 0.91)] and obesity [aOR 0.82, 95%CI (0.74, 0.90)].
The reduced odds of diabetes, hypertension and obesity among women who prefer to speak Mayan languages might be explained by cultural and lifestyle factors that are inextricably tied to Mayan language use. These findings are consistent with several previous studies, although associations between Indigenous languages and obesity have been varied. Our findings strengthen the impetus to maintain the vitality of Mayan languages in Guatemala.
本土语言是人类个体和集体身份的组成部分。讲本土语言对健康有益已得到证实，但也可能被各种形式的语言和种族歧视所掩盖。危地马拉近几十年来玛雅语出现了大量流失和濒危情况。认识到玛雅语与健康之间的积极关联可能会对其发展轨迹产生积极影响。
我们对来自危地马拉中部和西部临床女性人群的现有数据集进行了横断面分析。我们比较了讲玛雅语和西班牙语的本土女性以及非本土女性中糖尿病、高血压、肥胖症和体重不足的患病率。我们使用多元逻辑回归来估计每种情况按语言偏好调整后的优势比，并控制混杂因素。
共有10876名女性纳入分析。讲玛雅语的本土女性糖尿病、高血压和肥胖症的患病率最低，非本土女性体重不足的患病率最高。在控制社会人口学因素后，偏好玛雅语与糖尿病（调整后优势比0.80，95%置信区间[0.67, 0.94]）、高血压（调整后优势比0.80，95%置信区间[0.71, 0.91]）和肥胖症（调整后优势比0.82，95%置信区间[0.74, 0.90]）的较低优势比相关。
偏好讲玛雅语的女性中糖尿病、高血压和肥胖症的较低优势比可能由与玛雅语使用紧密相关的文化和生活方式因素来解释。这些发现与之前的几项研究一致，尽管本土语言与肥胖症之间的关联各不相同。我们的发现强化了在危地马拉维持玛雅语活力的动力。
