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Abstract Chile is a multi-ethnic Republic; a situation which contradicts itself when one looks at the relationship between the State and its ethnic groups, such as the Aymara in the North. One example of this is the implementation of a state-centric educational model which seems to be homogenizing. Taking a Children’s Geographies approach, the following work will analyze the specific types of relationships in educational institutions located in the Arica & Parinacota Region, between children from Aymara communities, the State, and adults. Through different qualitative investigative techniques, such as content analysis of drawings made by Aymara children, interviews made with teachers, and participant observation at schools, it seemed that the educational process that the Aymara children experience does not take their culture into consideration, which sets them apart from their parents’ and community’s identity. This study also uses the lens of Children’s Geographies to identify some landmarks in their spatial worldview transformation and their spatiality. Taking everything into account, conclusions are stated on how the normative educational model shapes uprooted children.

Arica, in the northern chilean border, is part of a historically multicultural territory: this characteristic is part of Arica inhabitants' common sense, which embraces it as a virtue. Based on interviews with teachers and professionals of public and rural schools in Arica, this article reflects on how aymara children, both chilean-born and immigrant, are perceived by their educators. Results suggest that, although favorable at first sight, perceptions include distinctions and preferences based on ethnicity, nationality, and territory that may crystalize differences among groups, impacting the life and educational trajectories of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Anxiety and depressive disorders occur in all stages of life and are the most common childhood disorders. However, only recently has attention been paid to mental health problems in indigenous children and studies of anxiety and depressive disorders in these children are still scarce. This study compares the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in Aymara and non-Aymara children. Among the Aymara children, the study examines the relations between these symptoms and the degree of involvement with Aymara culture. Methods We recruited 748 children aged 9 to 15 years from nine schools serving low socioeconomic classes in the city of Arica, in northern Chile. The children were equally divided between boys and girls and 37% of the children were Aymara. To evaluate anxiety and depressive symptoms we used the Stress in Children (SiC) instrument and the Children Depression Inventory-Short version (CDI-S), and used an instrument we developed to assess level of involvement in the Aymara culture. Results There was no significant difference between Aymara and non-Aymara children on any of the instrument scales. Dividing the Aymara children into high-involvement (n = 89) and low- involvement (n = 186) groups, the low-involvement group had significantly higher scores on the Hopelessness subscale of the CDI-S (p = 0.02) and scores of marginally higher significance in overall Anxiety on the SiC (p = 0.06). Conclusions Although Aymara children have migrated from the high Andean plateau to the city, this migration has not resulted in a greater presence of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Greater involvement with the Aymara culture may be a protective factor against anxiety and depressive symptoms in Aymara children. This point to an additional benefit of maintaining cultural traditions within this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which explores the factors influencing the relative sitting height in two groups of high-altitude children aged 8 through 13 in Bolivia. Among the factors include nutritional status, genetic ancestry, and developmental exposure to high-altitude hypoxia. It compares the condition of 273 children of upper socioeconomic status with 253 rural Aymara children of very low socioeconomic status in the capital city of La Paz.

Introduction: This study corresponds to an investigation from descriptive, transversal and comparative design for an independent group, with two evaluations of test and retest on different levels of altitude (environmental variable). Materials and Methods: It was worked with a probability sample, using the method of simple random sample of the population, with 15 male students from the Aymara ethnicity, aged 12 to 15 years-old, born on the plateau, and with over three years of stable residence in the village of Putre - Chile, located above 3,000m of height above sea level. Results: The results show that the students who live in high altitudes show an obvious improvement in their performance at sea level, involving a positive performance in physical and physiological reached in vital capacity, in anaerobic power and in the production of lactate in blood. However, these differences are not significant. Discussion: The results obtained in the measured variables in relation to the assumptions made in the beginning of the study confirm that children who inhabit high altitudes improve the level of their vital capacity when measured at sea level. However, despite this improvement in their vital capacity, these children only show an increase of 3.54% on their anaerobic power when evaluated at sea level, which is not significant (p> 0.05), resulting in this case in a very weak association between the improvement of vital capacity and anaerobic power. The statistical evidence based on the "t" test, where the average and the students of Putre did not significantly increase their anaerobic power when moved to sea level. However, significantly reduced their level of lactate in blood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines respiratory nitric oxide (NO) and pulmonary artery pressure in children of Aymara and European ancestry at high altitude. The hypothesis indicate that pulmonary artery pressure will be lower in Aymara children than in children of European ancestry at high altitude. The results indicate that Aymara children are protected from hypoxic pulmonary hypertension at high altitude, which does not appear to be related to increased respiratory NO synthesis.

Physical growth of Amerindian children living in two Aymara and three Quechua peasant communities in the Andean highlands of southern Peru (altitude 3,810-3,840 m) was studied, taking into account differences in the microclimate, agronomic situation, and sociodemographic variables. Anthropometric measurements were taken in 395 children aged under 14 years of age in a sample of 151 families in these communities, who were surveyed for sociodemographic variables as well. Data on the land system were available for 77 families. In comparison with reference populations from the United States (NCHS) and The Netherlands, stature, weight, head circumference, and midupper arm circumference (but not weight for stature) in the sample children were reduced. Growth retardation increased after the age of 1 year. Stature and weight in the present sample were very similar compared with previously published data on growth of rural Aymara children living near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. Head circumference, midupper arm circumference, and weight for stature were significantly larger in Aymara children compared with Quechua children. Land was significantly more fragmented in Aymara compared with Quechua families, but amount of land owned was not different. Perinatal and infant mortality was elevated in Aymara vs. Quechua communities. Most families in Aymara communities used protected drinking water. One Quechua community had a severe microclimate, grim economic outlook, and weak social cohesion. Children in this community showed significant reductions in weight and midupper arm circumference compared with their peers in the other communities. We conclude that (presumably nutritionally mediated) intervillage and Aymara-Quechua differences in childhood physical growth existed in this rural high-altitude population in Peru and were associated with microclimate and the village economy, sociodemographic factors, and differences in the land system. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]