Bobbie Maxine Benavidez

BOBBIE BENAVIDEZ, then a graduate student at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, was approved funding in October 2024 to aid research on “Two-Eyed Seeing: Yucatec Maya Ecological Knowledge and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk,” supervised by Dr. Christopher Kuzawa. Indigenous communities worldwide face disproportionately high rates of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. In Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, Maya communities offer a compelling case study: within just a few generations, the expansion of tourism has pulled many people away from traditional foods and farming, while processed foods and sugary drinks have flooded local markets, leading to a rapid rise in metabolic diseases. This project explores how increased tourism exposure influences rural Yucatec Maya villages, affecting diet, traditional practices, and long-term health outcomes. Using a community-led approach, the research documents Indigenous knowledge systems alongside on-site health screenings to identify traditional practices that may protect against metabolic disease. The framework examines how early-life environments shape health throughout a person’s life. By placing Maya communities as active partners in the research, this study advances anthropological understanding of how culture, economy, and biology interact during periods of rapid social change, revealing insights into human resilience and vulnerability. The findings will support culturally grounded health interventions and contribute to broader discussions about inequality, cultural preservation, and what it means to live a healthy human life.