The Universidad del Valle de Guatemala Longitudinal Study of Child and Adolescent Development (UVG Study) was started in 1953 at one school, expanded in 1963 to five schools in Guatemala City, and by the end of data collection in 1999 included seven schools in and near Guatemala City, ranging in socioeconomic status from very high to very low, with students of both ladino (Westernized mestizo) and Maya ethnicity. The UVG study covers five decades of Social-Economic-Political-Emotional change in Guatemala, a nation with stark inequalities and insecurities, a 500+ year history of violence, and a high prevalence of height stunting across all social classes. The study overlaps with the Guatemala Civil War of 1960–1996. The history of the UVG Study is described and the major findings of our analyses are presented. These analyses detail the key determinants of height and height inequality in terms of social-economic disparities, ethnic prejudice, and the long-term history of violence and insecurity for the people of Guatemala.