Modernization of the livestock breeding system and the physical growth, functional development and dietary pattern of rural women in Sonora, Mexico

In this study, carried out in a rural community in northern Sonora, México, physical growth, functional development and the dietary pattern of three generations of women, were evaluated in order to investigate if there was an associated effect to the expansion and modernization of livestock breeding in different historical periods. This phenomenon started in the fifties and has forced farmer families to abandon crops such as corn, beans and wheat, substituting them for pastures and forage. However, this study reveals that at present, this phenomenon does not seems to describe the physical growth and functional development of the new generations as evaluated by trends in height and age of menarche. Nevertheless, the types and varieties of food have changed. This study suggests that rural families who were incorporated into the modernization process of cattle breeding acquired the necessary economic capacity so as to substitute purchased foods for the ones they stopped cultivating.