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Welsh H, Brickley MB. Investigating femoral growth disruption in subadults from the 10th-13th century St. Étienne cemetery of Toulouse, France. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024:e24984. [PMID: 38899835 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 05/27/2024] [Accepted: 06/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The skeleton embodies an individual's environment and lived experiences. Studying childhood growth disruption can, therefore, aid in understanding the experiences of children in the past. This study evaluates growth disruption in a medieval Toulousian subadult sample to explore factors that may have influenced childhood growth and mortality at this site and to assess the utility of Harris line (HL) interpretations in bioarchaeology. MATERIALS AND METHODS Femoral growth disruption was assessed in n = 71 subadults (0.125-12.42 years) from the 10th-13th century St. Étienne cemetery of Toulouse, France, using femoral length, total area, cortical area, and relative cortical area. Femoral radiographs were assessed for HLs. To determine the prevalence of growth disruption, z-scores were calculated using data from the Denver growth study. RESULTS The majority of subadults in this sample suffered from femoral growth disruption. Young children (1.0-3.99 years) were the most affected, with >65% experiencing reduced appositional growth and linear growth stunting at time-of-death. Additionally, while many individuals presented with observable HLs, linear and appositional growth did not significantly differ between individuals with and without HLs. DISCUSSION Maternal malnutrition and inadequate complementary feeding practices likely contributed to the high prevalence of growth disruption among the youngest individuals in the study. The older children and adolescents buried at St. Étienne experienced an amelioration in growth deficits, indicating an improvement in nutrition and/or disease load. The results of this study suggest that more consideration is required when interpreting the presence/absence of HLs, and that studies assessing HLs may benefit from using a more individualistic approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Welsh
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - M B Brickley
- Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Trumble BC, Charifson M, Kraft T, Garcia AR, Cummings DK, Hooper P, Lea AJ, Eid Rodriguez D, Koebele SV, Buetow K, Beheim B, Minocher R, Gutierrez M, Thomas GS, Gatz M, Stieglitz J, Finch CE, Kaplan H, Gurven M. Apolipoprotein-ε 4 is associated with higher fecundity in a natural fertility population. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eade9797. [PMID: 37556539 PMCID: PMC10411886 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ade9797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
In many populations, the apolipoprotein-ε4 (APOE-ε4) allele increases the risk for several chronic diseases of aging, including dementia and cardiovascular disease; despite these harmful effects at later ages, the APOE-ε4 allele remains prevalent. We assess the impact of APOE-ε4 on fertility and its proximate determinants (age at first reproduction, interbirth interval) among the Tsimane, a natural fertility population of forager-horticulturalists. Among 795 women aged 13 to 90 (20% APOE-ε4 carriers), those with at least one APOE-ε4 allele had 0.3 to 0.5 more children than (ε3/ε3) homozygotes, while those with two APOE-ε4 alleles gave birth to 1.4 to 2.1 more children. APOE-ε4 carriers achieve higher fertility by beginning reproduction 0.8 years earlier and having a 0.23-year shorter interbirth interval. Our findings add to a growing body of literature suggesting a need for studies of populations living in ancestrally relevant environments to assess how alleles that are deleterious in sedentary urban environments may have been maintained by selection throughout human evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin C. Trumble
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Mia Charifson
- Department of Population Health, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Tom Kraft
- Anthropology Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Angela R. Garcia
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- Scientific Research Core, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ, USA
- Department of Child Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Daniel K. Cummings
- Department of Health Economics and Anthropology, Economic Science Institute, Argyros School of Business and Economics, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA
| | - Paul Hooper
- Department of Health Economics and Anthropology, Economic Science Institute, Argyros School of Business and Economics, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA
| | - Amanda J. Lea
- Child and Brain Development Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | | | | | - Kenneth Buetow
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Bret Beheim
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Riana Minocher
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Gregory S. Thomas
- MemorialCare Health System, Fountain Valley, CA, USA
- University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Margaret Gatz
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jonathan Stieglitz
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, Toulouse, France
| | - Caleb E. Finch
- Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and Dornsife College, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Hillard Kaplan
- Department of Health Economics and Anthropology, Economic Science Institute, Argyros School of Business and Economics, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA
| | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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The pregnancy compensation hypothesis, not the staying alive theory, accounts for disparate autoimmune functioning of women around the world. Behav Brain Sci 2022; 45:e145. [PMID: 35875971 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x22000589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The pregnancy compensation hypothesis provides a mechanistic explanation for the evolution of sex differences in immune system functioning, the excess of women experiencing autoimmune disease, and why this is observed only in industrialized nations; none of which can be explained by the staying alive theory, as proposed by the authors of the target article.
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Martin MA, Gurven M. Traditional and biomedical maternal and neonatal care practices in a rural Indigenous population of the Bolivian Amazon. Glob Public Health 2022; 17:971-985. [PMID: 33573491 PMCID: PMC9810376 DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2021.1882531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
In recent decades, Bolivia has expanded maternal and child health insurance coverage to improve access to prenatal and early life health care. Nationally, however, maternal and child health disparities persist along a rural-urban divide. Research is needed among rural populations to better understand local barriers to health care access and usage. Particularly among Indigenous populations, disparities may be compounded by differences in preferences for and access to traditional versus biomedical health care. We examined prenatal care and birth practices among Tsimane forager-farmers of El Beni, Bolivia. From 2012-2013, we interviewed 151 Tsimane mothers (0-35 months postpartum) from nine villages about birth and neonatal care practices, prenatal care, and pharmaceutical usage during labour and postpartum recovery. Results demonstrate local disparities in biomedical care usage by ease of access (e.g. proximity to market town, Spanish fluency), and maternal experience (e.g. parity and prior offspring death or miscarriage). While 59% of interviewed mothers had received at least one prenatal screening, services performed in screenings were limited. Nearly all women continue to birth at home with family assistance. Inconsistent access to health care services may be exacerbated by regional, generational, and educational disparities within the population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie A. Martin
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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5
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Garcia AR, Blackwell AD, Trumble BC, Stieglitz J, Kaplan H, Gurven MD. Evidence for height and immune function trade-offs among preadolescents in a high pathogen population. Evol Med Public Health 2020; 2020:86-99. [PMID: 32983534 PMCID: PMC7502263 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoaa017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In an energy-limited environment, caloric investments in one characteristic should trade-off with investments in other characteristics. In high pathogen ecologies, biasing energy allocation towards immune function over growth would be predicted, given strong selective pressures against early-life mortality. METHODOLOGY In the present study, we use flow cytometry to examine trade-offs between adaptive immune function (T cell subsets, B cells), innate immune function (natural killer cells), adaptive to innate ratio and height-for-age z scores (HAZ) among young children (N = 344; aged 2 months-8 years) in the Bolivian Amazon, using maternal BMI and child weight-for-height z scores (WHZ) as proxies for energetic status. RESULTS Markers of adaptive immune function negatively associate with child HAZ, a pattern most significant in preadolescents (3+ years). In children under three, maternal BMI appears to buffer immune and HAZ associations, while child energetic status (WHZ) moderates relationships in an unexpected direction: HAZ and immune associations are greater in preadolescents with higher WHZ. Children with low WHZ maintain similar levels of adaptive immune function, but are shorter compared to high WHZ peers. CONCLUSIONS Reduced investment in growth in favor of immunity may be necessary for survival in high pathogen contexts, even under energetic constraints. Further, genetic and environmental factors are important considerations for understanding variation in height within this population. These findings prompt consideration of whether there may be a threshold of investment into adaptive immunity required for survival in high pathogen environments, and thus question the universal relevance of height as a marker of health. LAY SUMMARY Adaptive immune function is negatively associated with child height in this high pathogen environment. Further, low weight-for-height children are shorter but maintain similar immune levels. Findings question the relevance of height as a universal health marker, given that costs and benefits of height versus immunity may be calibrated to local ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela R Garcia
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, 427 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, 427 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
| | - Aaron D Blackwell
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, USA
| | - Benjamin C Trumble
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, 427 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, 900 Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
| | - Jonathan Stieglitz
- Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, espanade de l’Université 21, Allée de Brienne, Toulouse Cedex 06 31080, France
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, espanade de l’Université 21, Allée de Brienne, Toulouse Cedex 06 31080, France
| | - Hillard Kaplan
- Economic Science Institute, Chapman University, One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866, USA
| | - Michael D Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
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Sprockett DD, Martin M, Costello EK, Burns AR, Holmes SP, Gurven MD, Relman DA. Microbiota assembly, structure, and dynamics among Tsimane horticulturalists of the Bolivian Amazon. Nat Commun 2020; 11:3772. [PMID: 32728114 PMCID: PMC7391733 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17541-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Selective and neutral forces shape human microbiota assembly in early life. The Tsimane are an indigenous Bolivian population with infant care-associated behaviors predicted to increase mother-infant microbial dispersal. Here, we characterize microbial community assembly in 47 infant-mother pairs from six Tsimane villages, using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of longitudinal stool and tongue swab samples. We find that infant consumption of dairy products, vegetables, and chicha (a fermented drink inoculated with oral microbes) is associated with stool microbiota composition. In stool and tongue samples, microbes shared between mothers and infants are more abundant than non-shared microbes. Using a neutral model of community assembly, we find that neutral processes alone explain the prevalence of 79% of infant-colonizing microbes, but explain microbial prevalence less well in adults from river villages with more regular access to markets. Our results underscore the importance of neutral forces during microbiota assembly. Changing lifestyle factors may alter traditional modes of microbiota assembly by decreasing the role of neutral processes. Selective and neutral forces shape human microbiota assembly in early life. Here, Sprockett et al. study microbial community assembly in 47 infant-mother pairs from the Tsimane, an indigenous Bolivian population, highlighting the importance of neutral forces during microbiota assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel D Sprockett
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Melanie Martin
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.,Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Elizabeth K Costello
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Adam R Burns
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Susan P Holmes
- Department of Statistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Michael D Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.,Broom Center for Demography, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - David A Relman
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. .,Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. .,Infectious Diseases Section, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA.
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Hové C, Trumble BC, Anderson AS, Stieglitz J, Kaplan H, Gurven MD, Blackwell AD. Immune function during pregnancy varies between ecologically distinct populations. Evol Med Public Health 2020; 2020:114-128. [PMID: 32983537 PMCID: PMC7502269 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoaa022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 06/12/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Among placental mammals, females undergo immunological shifts during pregnancy to accommodate the fetus (i.e. fetal tolerance). Fetal tolerance has primarily been characterized within post-industrial populations experiencing evolutionarily novel conditions (e.g. reduced pathogen exposure), which may shape maternal response to fetal antigens. This study investigates how ecological conditions affect maternal immune status during pregnancy by comparing the direction and magnitude of immunological changes associated with each trimester among the Tsimane (a subsistence population subjected to high pathogen load) and women in the USA. METHODOLOGY Data from the Tsimane Health and Life History Project (N = 935) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (N = 1395) were used to estimate population-specific effects of trimester on differential leukocyte count and C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation. RESULTS In both populations, pregnancy was associated with increased neutrophil prevalence, reduced lymphocyte and eosinophil count and elevated CRP. Compared to their US counterparts, pregnant Tsimane women exhibited elevated lymphocyte and eosinophil counts, fewer neutrophils and monocytes and lower CRP. Total leukocyte count remained high and unchanged among pregnant Tsimane women while pregnant US women exhibited substantially elevated counts, resulting in overlapping leukocyte prevalence among all third-trimester individuals. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Our findings indicate that ecological conditions shape non-pregnant immune baselines and the magnitude of immunological shifts during pregnancy via developmental constraints and current trade-offs. Future research should investigate how such flexibility impacts maternal health and disease susceptibility, particularly the degree to which chronic pathogen exposure might dampen inflammatory response to fetal antigens. LAY SUMMARY This study compares immunological changes associated with pregnancy between the Tsimane (an Amazonian subsistence population) and individuals in the USA. Results suggest that while pregnancy enhances non-specific defenses and dampens both antigen-specific immunity and parasite/allergy response, ecological conditions strongly influence immune baselines and the magnitude of shifts during gestation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmen Hové
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Benjamin C Trumble
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Amy S Anderson
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | | | - Hillard Kaplan
- Economic Science Institute, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA
| | - Michael D Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Aaron D Blackwell
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
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Alami S, von Rueden C, Seabright E, Kraft TS, Blackwell AD, Stieglitz J, Kaplan H, Gurven M. Mother's social status is associated with child health in a horticulturalist population. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20192783. [PMID: 32156217 PMCID: PMC7126073 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
High social status is often associated with greater mating opportunities and fertility for men, but do women also obtain fitness benefits of high status? Greater resource access and child survivorship may be principal pathways through which social status increases women's fitness. Here, we examine whether peer-rankings of women's social status (indicated by political influence, project leadership, and respect) positively covaries with child nutritional status and health in a community of Amazonian horticulturalists. We find that maternal political influence is associated with improved child health outcomes in models adjusting for maternal age, parental height and weight, level of schooling, household income, family size, and number of kin in the community. Children of politically influential women have higher weight-for-age (B = 0.33; 95% CI = 0.12-0.54), height-for-age (B = 0.32; 95% CI = 0.10-0.54), and weight-for-height (B = 0.24; 95% CI = 0.04-0.44), and they are less likely to be diagnosed with common illnesses (OR = 0.48; 95% CI = 0.31-0.76). These results are consistent with women leveraging their social status to enhance reproductive success through improvements in child health. We discuss these results in light of parental investment theory and the implications for the evolution of female social status in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Alami
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | | | - Edmond Seabright
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
| | - Thomas S. Kraft
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Aaron D. Blackwell
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, USA
| | | | - Hillard Kaplan
- Economic Science Institute, Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA
| | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
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Anderson AS, Trumble BC, Hové C, Kraft TS, Kaplan H, Gurven M, Blackwell AD. Old friends and friendly fire: Pregnancy, hookworm infection, and anemia among tropical horticulturalists. Am J Hum Biol 2019; 32:e23337. [PMID: 31642576 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2019] [Revised: 08/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Despite public health concerns about hookworm infection in pregnancy, little is known about immune profiles associated with hookworm (Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale) infection during pregnancy. Fetal tolerance requirements may constrain maternal immune response to hookworm, thereby increasing susceptibility to new infections or increasing hemoglobin loss. To explore this possibility, we study systemic immune response and hemoglobin levels in a natural fertility population with endemic helminthic infection. METHODS We used Bayesian multilevel models to analyze mixed longitudinal data on hemoglobin, hookworm infection, reproductive state, eosinophils, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) to examine the effects of pregnancy and hookworm infection on nonspecific inflammation, cellular parasite response, and hemoglobin among 612 Tsimane women aged 15-45 (1016 observations). RESULTS Pregnancy is associated with lower eosinophil counts and lower eosinophil response to hookworm, particularly during the second and third trimesters. Both hookworm and pregnancy are associated with higher ESR, with evidence for an interaction between the two causing further increases in the first trimester. Pregnancy is moderately associated with higher odds of hookworm infection (OR: 1.23, 95% CI: 0.83 to 1.83). Pregnancy and hookworm both decrease hemoglobin and may interact to accentuate this effect in the first-trimester of pregnancy (Interaction: β: -0.30 g/dL; CI: -0.870 to 0.24). CONCLUSIONS Our findings are consistent with a possible trade-off between hookworm immunity and successful pregnancy, and with the suggestion that hookworm and pregnancy may have synergistic effects, particularly in the first trimester.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy S Anderson
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara
| | - Benjamin C Trumble
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
| | - Carmen Hové
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara
| | - Thomas S Kraft
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara
| | - Hillard Kaplan
- Economic Science Institute, Chapman University, Orange, California
| | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara
| | - Aaron D Blackwell
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, California, Santa Barbara.,Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
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10
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Miller EM, Khalil M. Iron and fecundity among Tsimane' women of Bolivia. EVOLUTION MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 2019:111-120. [PMID: 31402978 PMCID: PMC6682707 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoz020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 07/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Background and objectives Iron is critical for women's reproduction, and iron-deficiency anemia is a global health problem for mothers. While public health programs have aimed to correct iron deficiency in reproductive-aged women with supplementation, a small group of studies have shown that too much iron also has negative effects on birth outcomes. We hypothesize that women's iron levels evolved within a narrow optimum, and predict that hemoglobin (Hb) levels would be associated with women's fecundity. Methodology We used the publicly available, longitudinal Tsimane' Amazonian Panel Study to test the association between -Hb levels and hazard of having a next birth (a measure of fecundity) among 116 parous, reproductive-aged Tsimane' women of Bolivia. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to model Hb level and other predictors against the event of next birth across the observation period, which began at each woman's previous birth. Results The higher the Hb level, the lower the hazard of a woman giving birth within the study observation period (hazard ratio=0.82, P = 0.03). However, there was no evidence that low Hb reduced women's fecundity. Conclusions and implications These results demonstrate that high Hb influences women's fecundity. These results supports the growing body of literature showing that iron metabolism is critical for understanding the evolution of women's reproduction. More work is needed to determine the evolved optimal range of iron levels for reproductive-aged women. Lay summary Lower chance of pregnancy among Tsimane' women with high Hb levels, suggesting evolved optimal Hb levels in women.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth M Miller
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Ave, SOC107, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Maie Khalil
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Ave, SOC107, Tampa, FL, USA
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11
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Martin M, Blackwell A, Kaplan H, Gurven M. Differences in Tsimane children's growth outcomes and associated determinants as estimated by WHO standards vs. within-population references. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0214965. [PMID: 30995260 PMCID: PMC6469771 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Accepted: 03/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Anthropometric measures are commonly converted to age stratified z-scores to examine variation in growth outcomes in mixed-age and sex samples. For many study populations, z-scores will differ if calculated from World Health Organization (WHO) growth standards or within-population references. The specific growth reference used may influence statistical estimates of growth outcomes and their determinants, with implications for biological inference. We examined factors associated with growth outcomes in a sample of 152 Tsimane children aged 0-36 months. The Tsimane are a subsistence-scale population in the Bolivian Amazon with high rates of infectious disease and growth faltering. To examine the influence of growth reference on statistical inferences, we constructed multiple plausible models from available infant, maternal, and household attributes. We then ran identical models for height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), and weight-for-height (WHZ), with z-scores alternately calculated from WHO and robust Tsimane Lambda-Mu-Sigma growth curves. The distribution of WHO relative to Tsimane HAZ scores was negatively skewed, reflecting age-related increases in lower HAZ. Standardized coefficients and significance levels generally agreed across WHO and Tsimane models, although the strength and significance of specific terms varied in some models. Age was strongly, negatively associated with HAZ and WAZ in nearly all WHO, but not Tsimane models, resulting in consistently higher R2 estimates. Age and weaning effects were confounded in WHO models. Biased estimates of determinants associated with WHO HAZ may be more extreme in small samples and for variables that are strongly age-patterned. Additional methodological considerations may be warranted when applying WHO standards to within-population studies, particularly for populations with growth patterns known to systematically deviate from those of the WHO reference sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Martin
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America
| | - Aaron Blackwell
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America
| | - Hillard Kaplan
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America
| | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America
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12
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Veile A, Valeggia C, Kramer KL. Cesarean birth and the growth of Yucatec Maya and Toba/Qom children. Am J Hum Biol 2019; 31:e23228. [PMID: 30815932 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2018] [Revised: 01/30/2019] [Accepted: 02/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Cesarean delivery is often epidemiologically associated with childhood obesity. However, little attention is paid to post-birth modulatory environments, and most studies are conducted in settings where obesity arises for a number of reasons in addition to birth mode. We therefore assess population differences in the relationship between birth mode and childhood growth using data from rural and peri-urban Latin American indigenous populations, and test predictions developed using life history theory. METHODS Child height and weight were measured monthly in 80 Yucatec Maya and 58 Toba/Qom children aged 1-48 months (2007-2014, 3812 observations). Random-effects linear mixed models were used to compare children's growth by population, sex, and birth mode, accounting for potential confounders. RESULTS Cesarean delivery rates were 47% (Toba/Qom) and 20% (Yucatec Maya). Childhood obesity and overweight rates were low in both populations. Cesarean-delivered children had significantly greater weight gain (but similar height grain) compared to vaginally-delivered children. By age 4, cesarean delivered Yucatec Maya girls and boys, and Toba/Qom boys (not girls), had significantly higher weight-for-age compared to vaginally-delivered children from their own sex and population. CONCLUSIONS This provides one of the first attempts to document differences in children's growth patterns according to mode of birth in modernizing indigenous populations. Cesarean delivery is associated with young children's growth patterns, even in the absence of many obesity-inducing factors. There are also population, age, and sex differences in the relationship between birth mode and childhood weight trajectories that warrant future investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Veile
- Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
| | - Claudia Valeggia
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Karen L Kramer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
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13
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Jaramillo-Mejía MC, Chernichovsky D, Jiménez-Moleón JJ. [Determinants of infant mortality in Colombia. Path Analysis]. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2019; 20:3-9. [PMID: 30183878 DOI: 10.15446/rsap.v20n1.39247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2016] [Accepted: 10/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To disentangle the singular effects of biological, environmental, socioeconomic, and medical factors on the probability for infants to die. MATERIALS AND METHODS Apply a Path Analysis to Colombia's complete records of infant births and deaths, and the availability of maternal and child health services, during 2003-2009. RESULTS From a biological perspective, a high birth weight resulting from a normal gestational age is the most important variable to ensure the infant's survival. Prenatal care is key to reduce infant mortality. From a socioeconomic perspective, high levels of education and relative access to high quality care in the contributory social health insurance regime for maternal residence, contribute to higher chances of infant survival. CONCLUSIONS Related findings suggest that augmenting access to maternal, child and intensive care beds supported by the subsidized regime can reduce infant mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta C Jaramillo-Mejía
- MJ: MD. Ph. D. Medicina Clínica y Salud Pública. M. Sc. Investigación y Avances en Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública. Especialista en Gerencia Hospitalaria y en Gerencia de la Salud Pública. Departamento de Gestión Organizacional, Universidad Icesi. Colombia.
| | - Dov Chernichovsky
- DCh: Ph. D. Economía. Ben Gurion University of the negev Beer Sheva. Israel.
| | - José J Jiménez-Moleón
- JJ: MD. Ph. D. Medicina. Esp. Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública. Universidad de Granada; CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública, Madrid; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada ibs. Granada. Universidad de Granada/Hospitales Universitarios de Granada. Servicio Andaluz de Salud. España.
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14
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Klein LD, Huang J, Quinn EA, Martin MA, Breakey AA, Gurven M, Kaplan H, Valeggia C, Jasienska G, Scelza B, Lebrilla CB, Hinde K. Variation among populations in the immune protein composition of mother's milk reflects subsistence pattern. Evol Med Public Health 2018; 2018:230-245. [PMID: 30430010 PMCID: PMC6222208 DOI: 10.1093/emph/eoy031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2018] [Accepted: 09/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
LAY SUMMARY Adaptive immune proteins in mothers' milk are more variable than innate immune proteins across populations and subsistence strategies. These results suggest that the immune defenses in milk are shaped by a mother's environment throughout her life. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Mother's milk contains immune proteins that play critical roles in protecting the infant from infection and priming the infant's developing immune system during early life. The composition of these molecules in milk, particularly the acquired immune proteins, is thought to reflect a mother's immunological exposures throughout her life. In this study, we examine the composition of innate and acquired immune proteins in milk across seven populations with diverse disease and cultural ecologies. METHODOLOGY Milk samples (n = 164) were collected in Argentina, Bolivia, Nepal, Namibia, Philippines, Poland and the USA. Populations were classified as having one of four subsistence patterns: urban-industrialism, rural-shop, horticulturalist-forager or agro-pastoralism. Milk innate (lactalbumin, lactoferrin and lysozyme) and acquired (Secretory IgA, IgG and IgM) protein concentrations were determined using triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry. RESULTS Both innate and acquired immune protein composition in milk varied among populations, though the acquired immune protein composition of milk differed more among populations. Populations living in closer geographic proximity or having similar subsistence strategies (e.g. agro-pastoralists from Nepal and Namibia) had more similar milk immune protein compositions. Agro-pastoralists had different milk innate immune protein composition from horticulturalist-foragers and urban-industrialists. Acquired immune protein composition differed among all subsistence strategies except horticulturist-foragers and rural-shop. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Our results reveal fundamental variation in milk composition that has not been previously explored in human milk research. Further study is needed to understand what specific aspects of the local environment influence milk composition and the effects this variation may have on infant health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura D Klein
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 West Harrison Street, Chicago IL, USA
| | - Jincui Huang
- Chemistry Department, University of California Davis, 2465 Chemistry Annex, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Quinn
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St Louis, Campus Box 1114, One Brookings Drive, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Melanie A Martin
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, 314 Denny Hall, Box 353100, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Alicia A Breakey
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Hillard Kaplan
- Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, MSC01-1040, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Claudia Valeggia
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, 10 Sachem Street, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Grazyna Jasienska
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, ul. Grzegorzecka 20, Krakow, Poland
| | - Brooke Scelza
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles, 341 Haines Hall, Box 951553, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Carlito B Lebrilla
- Chemistry Department, University of California Davis, 2465 Chemistry Annex, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Katie Hinde
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
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15
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Costa ME, Trumble B, Kaplan H, Gurven MD. Child nutritional status among births exceeding ideal family size in a high fertility population. MATERNAL & CHILD NUTRITION 2018; 14:e12625. [PMID: 29888858 PMCID: PMC6865964 DOI: 10.1111/mcn.12625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2017] [Revised: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Ideal family size (IFS) is measured in social surveys to indicate unmet need for contraception and impending shifts in fertility behaviour. Whether exceeding IFS affects parental behaviour in ways that result in lower investments in child nutrition, well-being, and educational attainment is not known. This study examines parental IFS and the association between exceeding stated ideals and child nutritional status in a high-fertility, high-mortality population in the Bolivian Amazon. Height-for-age z-scores, weight-for-age z-scores, weight-for-height z-scores, stunting, haemoglobin, and anaemia status in 638 children aged 0-5 years are predicted as a function of birth order in relation to parental IFS, adjusting for household characteristics and mother and child random effects. Children of birth orders above paternal IFS experience higher weight-for-age z-scores when living further away from the market town of San Borja, consistent with underlying motivations for higher IFS and lower human capital investment in children in more remote areas (β = .009, p = .027). Overall, we find no statistical evidence that birth orders in excess of parental ideals are associated with compromised child nutrition below age 2, a period of intensive breastfeeding in this population. Despite a vulnerability to nutritional deficiencies postweaning for children age 2-5, there was no association between birth order in excess of parental ideals and lower nutritional status. Further studies examining this association at various stages of the fertility transition will elucidate whether reported ideal or optimal family sizes are flexible as trade-offs between quality and quantity of children shift during the transition to lower fertility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan E. Costa
- T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family DynamicsArizona State UniversityTempeArizonaUSA
| | - Benjamin Trumble
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change and Center for Evolution and MedicineArizona State UniversityTempeArizonaUSA
| | - Hillard Kaplan
- Department of Health Economics and Anthropology, Economic Science InstituteArgyros School of Business and Economics Chapman UniversityOrangeCaliforniaUSA
| | - Michael D. Gurven
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of California Santa BarbaraSanta BarbaraCaliforniaUSA
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16
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van der Linden D, Dunkel CS, Figueredo AJ, Gurven M, von Rueden C, Woodley of Menie MA. How Universal Is the General Factor of Personality? An Analysis of the Big Five in Forager Farmers of the Bolivian Amazon. JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY 2018; 49:1081-1097. [PMID: 30046184 PMCID: PMC6047301 DOI: 10.1177/0022022118774925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
In various personality models, such as the Big Five, a consistent higher order general factor of personality (GFP) can be identified. One view in the literature is that the GFP reflects general social effectiveness. Most GFP studies, however, have been conducted in Western, educated, industrialized, and rich democracies (WEIRD). Therefore, to address the question of the universality of the GFP, we test whether the GFP can also be identified in a preliterate indigenous sample of Tsimane by using self-reports, spouse reports, and interviewer ratings. In the Tsimane, a viable GFP could be identified and the intercorrelations between personality traits were significantly stronger than in samples from industrial countries. The GFP correlated with the ratings of social engagement. In addition, self and spouse ratings of the GFP overlapped. Overall, the findings are in line with the notion that the GFP is a human universal and a substantive personality factor reflecting social effectiveness.
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17
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Brabec M, Behrman JR, Emmett SD, Gibson E, Kidd C, Leonard W, Penny ME, Piantadosi ST, Sharma A, Tanner S, Undurraga EA, Godoy RA. Birth seasons and heights among girls and boys below 12 years of age: lasting effects and catch-up growth among native Amazonians in Bolivia. Ann Hum Biol 2018; 45:299-313. [PMID: 30328382 PMCID: PMC6191890 DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2018.1490453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2017] [Revised: 05/28/2018] [Accepted: 06/04/2018] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Seasons affect many social, economic, and biological outcomes, particularly in low-resource settings, and some studies suggest that birth season affects child growth. AIM To study a predictor of stunting that has received limited attention: birth season. SUBJECTS AND METHODS This study uses cross-sectional data collected during 2008 in a low-resource society of horticulturists-foragers in the Bolivian Amazon, Tsimane'. It estimates the associations between birth months and height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) for 562 girls and 546 boys separately, from birth until age 11 years or pre-puberty, which in this society occurs ∼13-14 years. RESULTS Children born during the rainy season (February-May) were shorter, while children born during the end of the dry season and the start of the rainy season (August-November) were taller, both compared with their age-sex peers born during the rest of the year. The correlations of birth season with HAZ were stronger for boys than for girls. Controlling for birth season, there is some evidence of eventual partial catch-up growth, with the HAZ of girls or boys worsening until ∼ age 4-5 years, but improving thereafter. By age 6 years, many girls and boys had ceased to be stunted, irrespective of birth season. CONCLUSION The results suggest that redressing stunting will require attention to conditions in utero, infancy and late childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marek Brabec
- a Institute of Computer Science of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Department of Biostatistics and Informatics , National Institute of Public Health , Prague , Czech Republic
| | - Jere R Behrman
- b Department of Economics and Population Studies Center , University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , PA , USA
| | - Susan D Emmett
- c Department of Surgery, Division of Head and Neck Surgery & Communication Sciences , Duke University School of Medicine and Duke Global Health Institute , Durham , NC , USA
| | - Edward Gibson
- d Department of Psychology , University of California , Berkeley , Berkeley, CA , USA
| | - Celeste Kidd
- e Department of Psychology , , University of California , Berkeley, Berkeley , CA , USA
| | - William Leonard
- f Department of Anthropology , Northwestern University , Evanston , IL , USA
| | - Mary E Penny
- g Instituto de Investigación Nutricional , Lima , Peru
| | - Steven T Piantadosi
- e Department of Psychology , , University of California , Berkeley, Berkeley , CA , USA
| | - Abhishek Sharma
- h Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital , Brisbane , Australia
| | - Susan Tanner
- i Anthropology , University of Georgia , Athens , GA , USA
| | - Eduardo A Undurraga
- j Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Escuela de Gobierno , Santiago , Chile
| | - Ricardo A Godoy
- k Heller School for Social Policy and Management , Brandeis University , Waltham , MA , USA
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18
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Undurraga EA, Behrman JR, Emmett SD, Kidd C, Leonard WR, Piantadosi ST, Reyes-García V, Sharma A, Zhang R, Godoy RA. Child stunting is associated with weaker human capital among native Amazonians. Am J Hum Biol 2017; 30. [PMID: 28901592 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2016] [Revised: 06/19/2017] [Accepted: 08/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We assessed associations between child stunting, recovery, and faltering with schooling and human capital skills in a native Amazonian society of horticulturalists-foragers (Tsimane'). METHODS We used cross-sectional data (2008) from 1262 children aged 6 to 16 years in 53 villages to assess contemporaneous associations between three height categories: stunted (height-for-age Z score, HAZ<-2), moderately stunted (-2 ≤ HAZ≤-1), and nonstunted (HAZ>-1), and three categories of human capital: completed grades of schooling, test-based academic skills (math, reading, writing), and local plant knowledge. We used annual longitudinal data (2002-2010) from all children (n = 853) in 13 villages to estimate the association between changes in height categories between the first and last years of measure and schooling and academic skills. RESULTS Stunting was associated with 0.4 fewer completed grades of schooling (∼24% less) and with 13-15% lower probability of showing any writing or math skills. Moderate stunting was associated with ∼20% lower scores in local plant knowledge and 9% lower probability of showing writing skills, but was not associated with schooling or math and writing skills. Compared with nonstunted children, children who became stunted had 18-21% and 15-21% lower probabilities of showing math and writing skills, and stunted children had 0.4 fewer completed grades of schooling. Stunted children who recovered showed human capital outcomes that were indistinguishable from nonstunted children. CONCLUSIONS The results confirm adverse associations between child stunting and human capital skills. Predictors of growth recovery and faltering can affect human capital outcomes, even in a remote, economically self-sufficient society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo A Undurraga
- School of Government, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Región Metropolitana 7820436, Chile
| | - Jere R Behrman
- Department of Economics and Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
| | - Susan D Emmett
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287.,Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
| | - Celeste Kidd
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627-0268
| | - William R Leonard
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208
| | - Steven T Piantadosi
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627-0268
| | - Victoria Reyes-García
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona 08010, Spain.,Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193, Spain
| | - Abhishek Sharma
- Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia
| | - Rebecca Zhang
- Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
| | - Ricardo A Godoy
- Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts 02453
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Gurven M, Stieglitz J, Trumble B, Blackwell AD, Beheim B, Davis H, Hooper P, Kaplan H. The Tsimane Health and Life History Project: Integrating anthropology and biomedicine. Evol Anthropol 2017; 26:54-73. [PMID: 28429567 PMCID: PMC5421261 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The Tsimane Health and Life History Project, an integrated bio-behavioral study of the human life course, is designed to test competing hypotheses of human life-history evolution. One aim is to understand the bidirectional connections between life history and social behavior in a high-fertility, kin-based context lacking amenities of modern urban life (e.g. sanitation, banks, electricity). Another aim is to understand how a high pathogen burden influences health and well-being during development and adulthood. A third aim addresses how modernization shapes human life histories and sociality. Here we outline the project's goals, history, and main findings since its inception in 2002. We reflect on the implications of current findings and highlight the need for more coordinated ethnographic and biomedical study of contemporary nonindustrial populations to address broad questions that can situate evolutionary anthropology in a key position within the social and life sciences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Gurven
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of California‐Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara CA
| | | | - Benjamin Trumble
- Center for Evolution and Medicine; School of Human Evolution and Social ChangeArizona State UniversityTempeAZ
| | - Aaron D. Blackwell
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of California‐Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara CA
| | - Bret Beheim
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and CultureMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
| | - Helen Davis
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of UtahSalt Lake CityUT
| | | | - Hillard Kaplan
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerqueNM
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20
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Black CJ, Figueredo AJ, Jacobs WJ. Substance, History, and Politics. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 2017; 15:1474704916670402. [PMID: 28152629 PMCID: PMC10367485 DOI: 10.1177/1474704916670402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2016] [Revised: 08/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/21/2016] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this article is to examine the relations between two approaches to the measurement of life history (LH) strategies: A traditional approach, termed here the biodemographic approach, measures developmental characteristics like birthweight, gestation length, interbirth intervals, pubertal timing, and sexual debut, and a psychological approach measures a suite of cognitive and behavioral traits such as altruism, sociosexual orientation, personality, mutualism, familial relationships, and religiosity. The biodemographic approach also tends not to invoke latent variables, whereas the psychological approach typically relies heavily upon them. Although a large body of literature supports both approaches, they are largely separate. This review examines the history and relations between biodemographic and psychological measures of LH, which remain murky at best. In doing so, we consider basic questions about the nature of LH strategies: What constitutes LH strategy (or perhaps more importantly, what does not constitute LH strategy)? What is gained or lost by including psychological measures in LH research? Must these measures remain independent or should they be used in conjunction as complementary tools to test tenets of LH theory? Although definitive answers will linger, we hope to catalyze an explicit discussion among LH researchers and to provoke novel research avenues that combine the strengths each approach brings to this burgeoning field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Candace J. Black
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | | | - W. Jake Jacobs
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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Blackwell AD, Urlacher SS, Beheim B, von Rueden C, Jaeggi A, Stieglitz J, Trumble BC, Gurven M, Kaplan H. Growth references for Tsimane forager-horticulturalists of the Bolivian Amazon. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 162:441-461. [PMID: 28218400 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2016] [Revised: 10/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Growth standards and references currently used to assess population and individual health are derived primarily from urban populations, including few individuals from indigenous or subsistence groups. Given environmental and genetic differences, growth may vary in these populations. Thus, there is a need to assess whether international standards are appropriate for all populations, and to produce population specific references if growth differs. Here we present and assess growth references for the Tsimane, an indigenous population of Bolivian forager-horticulturalists. METHODS Mixed cross-sectional/longitudinal anthropometrics (9,614 individuals; 30,118 observations; ages 0-29 years) were used to generate centile curves and Lambda-Mu-Sigma (LMS) tables for height-for-age, weight-for-age, body mass index (BMI)-for-age, and weight-for-height (WFH) using Generalized Additive Models for Location Shape and Scale (GAMLSS). Velocity curves were generated using SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR). Tsimane ≤5 years were compared to World Health Organization (WHO) standards while those >5 years were compared to WHO school age references. All ages were compared to published references for Shuar forager-horticulturalists of the Ecuadorian Amazon. RESULTS Tsimane growth differs from WHO values in height and weight, but is similar for BMI and WFH. Tsimane growth is characterized by slow height velocity in childhood and early adolescent peak height velocity at 11.3 and 13.2 years for girls and boys. Tsimane growth patterns are similar to Shuar, suggesting shared features of growth among indigenous South Americans. CONCLUSIONS International references for BMI-for-age and WFH are likely appropriate for Tsimane, but differences in height-for-age and weight-for-age suggest Tsimane specific references may be useful for these measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron D Blackwell
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, California.,Tsimane Health and Life History Project, San Borja, Bolivia
| | - Samuel S Urlacher
- Department of Anthropology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York
| | - Bret Beheim
- Tsimane Health and Life History Project, San Borja, Bolivia.,Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
| | - Christopher von Rueden
- Tsimane Health and Life History Project, San Borja, Bolivia.,Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia
| | - Adrian Jaeggi
- Tsimane Health and Life History Project, San Borja, Bolivia.,Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Jonathan Stieglitz
- Tsimane Health and Life History Project, San Borja, Bolivia.,Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico.,Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Benjamin C Trumble
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, California.,Tsimane Health and Life History Project, San Borja, Bolivia.,Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.,School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
| | - Michael Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Barbara, California.,Tsimane Health and Life History Project, San Borja, Bolivia
| | - Hillard Kaplan
- Tsimane Health and Life History Project, San Borja, Bolivia.,Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Martin MA, Garcia G, Kaplan HS, Gurven MD. Conflict or congruence? Maternal and infant-centric factors associated with shorter exclusive breastfeeding durations among the Tsimane. Soc Sci Med 2016; 170:9-17. [PMID: 27732906 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2016] [Revised: 10/03/2016] [Accepted: 10/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Six months of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is considered optimal for infant health, though globally most infants begin complementary feeding (CF) earlier-including among populations that practice prolonged breastfeeding. Two frameworks for understanding patterns of early CF emerge in the literature. In the first, maternal and infant needs trade-off, as "maternal-centric" factors-related to time and energy demands, reproductive investment, cultural influences, and structural barriers- favor supplanting breastfeeding with earlier and increased CF. A second framework considers that "infant-centric" factors-related to infant energetic needs-favor CF before six months to supplement breastfeeding. We apply these two frameworks in examining early CF among the Tsimane-a high-fertility, high-mortality, forager-horticulturalist population residing in the Bolivian Amazon. Data were collected from a mixed-longitudinal sample of 161 Tsimane mother-infant pairs from August 2012-April 2013. Tsimane mothers generally reported introducing CF because of perceived infant needs. However, CF is introduced with continued intensive breastfeeding, and generally coupled with premastication. Risks of earlier CF relative to the minimum hazard (estimated at 5 births) were elevated for lower and higher parity mothers, but were significantly greater only after 9 births. Seventeen percent of mothers reported introducing CF because of low milk supply. Introducing CF because of low milk was most common from 0 to 3 months of age and among higher parity mothers, which may reflect physiological constraints. Maternal reproductive trade-offs and perceived infant needs may help explain the low prevalence of EBF to six months among other populations in which breastfeeding is not structurally or culturally constrained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie A Martin
- University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Anthropology, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3210, USA.
| | - Geni Garcia
- University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Anthropology, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3210, USA.
| | - Hillard S Kaplan
- University of New Mexico, Department of Anthropology, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
| | - Michael D Gurven
- University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Anthropology, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3210, USA.
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Health costs of reproduction are minimal despite high fertility, mortality and subsistence lifestyle. Sci Rep 2016; 6:30056. [PMID: 27436412 PMCID: PMC4951795 DOI: 10.1038/srep30056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2016] [Accepted: 06/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Women exhibit greater morbidity than men despite higher life expectancy. An evolutionary life history framework predicts that energy invested in reproduction trades-off against investments in maintenance and survival. Direct costs of reproduction may therefore contribute to higher morbidity, especially for women given their greater direct energetic contributions to reproduction. We explore multiple indicators of somatic condition among Tsimane forager-horticulturalist women (Total Fertility Rate = 9.1; n = 592 aged 15-44 years, n = 277 aged 45+). We test whether cumulative live births and the pace of reproduction are associated with nutritional status and immune function using longitudinal data spanning 10 years. Higher parity and faster reproductive pace are associated with lower nutritional status (indicated by weight, body mass index, body fat) in a cross-section, but longitudinal analyses show improvements in women's nutritional status with age. Biomarkers of immune function and anemia vary little with parity or pace of reproduction. Our findings demonstrate that even under energy-limited and infectious conditions, women are buffered from the potential depleting effects of rapid reproduction and compound offspring dependency characteristic of human life histories.
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Kramer KL, Veile A, Otárola-Castillo E. Sibling Competition & Growth Tradeoffs. Biological vs. Statistical Significance. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0150126. [PMID: 26938742 PMCID: PMC4777386 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2015] [Accepted: 02/09/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Early childhood growth has many downstream effects on future health and reproduction and is an important measure of offspring quality. While a tradeoff between family size and child growth outcomes is theoretically predicted in high-fertility societies, empirical evidence is mixed. This is often attributed to phenotypic variation in parental condition. However, inconsistent study results may also arise because family size confounds the potentially differential effects that older and younger siblings can have on young children's growth. Additionally, inconsistent results might reflect that the biological significance associated with different growth trajectories is poorly understood. This paper addresses these concerns by tracking children's monthly gains in height and weight from weaning to age five in a high fertility Maya community. We predict that: 1) as an aggregate measure family size will not have a major impact on child growth during the post weaning period; 2) competition from young siblings will negatively impact child growth during the post weaning period; 3) however because of their economic value, older siblings will have a negligible effect on young children's growth. Accounting for parental condition, we use linear mixed models to evaluate the effects that family size, younger and older siblings have on children's growth. Congruent with our expectations, it is younger siblings who have the most detrimental effect on children's growth. While we find statistical evidence of a quantity/quality tradeoff effect, the biological significance of these results is negligible in early childhood. Our findings help to resolve why quantity/quality studies have had inconsistent results by showing that sibling competition varies with sibling age composition, not just family size, and that biological significance is distinct from statistical significance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L. Kramer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States of America
| | - Amanda Veile
- Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America
| | - Erik Otárola-Castillo
- Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America
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Culqui DR, Ayuso-Alvarez A, Munayco CV, Quispe-Huaman C, Mayta-Tristán P, Campos JDMD. Demographic and health attributes of the Nahua, initial contact population of the Peruvian Amazon. CIENCIA & SAUDE COLETIVA 2016; 21:273-84. [PMID: 26816184 DOI: 10.1590/1413-81232015211.20502014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2014] [Accepted: 05/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
We present the case of the Nahua population of Santa Rosa de Serjali, Peruvian Amazon's population, considered of initial contact. This population consists of human groups that for a long time decided to live in isolation, but lately have begun living a more sedentary lifestyle and in contact with Western populations. There are two fully identified initial contact groups in Peru: the Nahua and the Nanti. The health statistics of the Nahua are scarce. This study offers an interpretation of demographic and epidemiological indicators of the Nahua people, trying to identify if a certain degree of health vulnerability exists. We performed a cross sectional study, and after analyzing their health indicators, as well as the supplemental qualitative analysis of the population, brought us to conclude that in 2006, the Nahua, remained in a state of health vulnerability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dante R Culqui
- Centro Nacional de Epidemiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, España,
| | - Ana Ayuso-Alvarez
- Centro Nacional de Epidemiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, España,
| | - Cesar V Munayco
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics Uniformed Services, University of Health Sciences, USA
| | - Carlos Quispe-Huaman
- Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo de Pueblos Andinos, Amazónicos y Afroperuanos, España
| | | | - Juan de Mata Donado Campos
- Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, España
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Tanner S, Leonard WR, Reyes-García V. The consequences of linear growth stunting: Influence on body composition among youth in the bolivian amazon. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2013; 153:92-102. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2013] [Revised: 10/07/2013] [Accepted: 10/10/2013] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Susan Tanner
- Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia; Athens GA 30602
| | | | - Victoria Reyes-García
- ICREA and Institut de Ciència I Technologia Ambientals; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; 08193 Cerdanyola del Valles Spain
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27
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Veile A, Martin M, McAllister L, Gurven M. Modernization is associated with intensive breastfeeding patterns in the Bolivian Amazon. Soc Sci Med 2013; 100:148-58. [PMID: 24444850 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.10.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2013] [Revised: 10/22/2013] [Accepted: 10/24/2013] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
For many traditional, non-industrialized populations, intensive and prolonged breastfeeding buffers infant health against poverty, poor sanitation, and limited health care. Due to novel influences on local economies, values, and beliefs, the traditional and largely beneficial breastfeeding patterns of such populations may be changing to the detriment of infant health. To assess if and why such changes are occurring in a traditional breastfeeding population, we document breastfeeding patterns in the Bolivian Tsimane, a forager-horticulturalist population in the early stages of modernization. Three predictions are developed and tested to evaluate the general hypothesis that modernizing influences encourage less intensive breastfeeding in the Tsimane: 1) Tsimane mothers in regions of higher infant mortality will practice more intensive BF; 2) Tsimane mothers who are located closer to a local market town will practice more intensive BF; and 3) Older Tsimane mothers will practice more intensive BF. Predictions were tested using a series of maternal interviews (from 2003 to 2011, n = 215) and observations of mother-infant dyads (from 2002 to 2007, n = 133). Tsimane breastfeeding patterns were generally intensive: 72% of mothers reported initiating BF within a few hours of birth, mean (±SD) age of CF introduction was 4.1 ± 2.0 months, and mean (±SD) weaning age was 19.2 ± 7.3 months. There was, however, intra-population variation in several dimensions of breastfeeding (initiation, frequency, duration, and complementary feeding). Contrary to our predictions, breastfeeding was most intensive in the most modernized Tsimane villages, and maternal age was not a significant predictor of breastfeeding patterns. Regional differences accounted for variation in most dimensions of breastfeeding (initiation, frequency, and complementary feeding). Future research should therefore identify constraints on breastfeeding in the less modernized Tsimane regions, and examine the formation of maternal beliefs regarding infant feeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda Veile
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125-3393, USA.
| | - Melanie Martin
- Integrative Anthropological Sciences Program, Department of Anthropology, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Lisa McAllister
- Integrative Anthropological Sciences Program, Department of Anthropology, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Michael Gurven
- Integrative Anthropological Sciences Program, Department of Anthropology, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
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McAllister L, Gurven M, Kaplan H, Stieglitz J. Why do women have more children than they want? Understanding differences in women's ideal and actual family size in a natural fertility population. Am J Hum Biol 2012; 24:786-99. [PMID: 22987773 PMCID: PMC3806294 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.22316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2012] [Revised: 07/23/2012] [Accepted: 08/02/2012] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES We develop and test a conceptual model of factors influencing women's ideal family size (IFS) in a natural fertility population, the Tsimane of Bolivia. The model posits affects of socioecology, reproductive history, maternal condition, and men's IFS. We test three hypotheses for why women may exceed their IFS despite experiencing socioeconomic development: (H(1) ) limited autonomy; (H(2) ) improved maternal condition; and (H(3) ) low returns on investments in embodied capital. METHODS Women's reproductive histories and prospective fertility data were collected from 2002 to 2008 (n = 305 women). Semistructured interviews were conducted with Tsimane women to study the perceived value of parental investment (n = 76). Multiple regression, t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are used to test model predictions. RESULTS Women's IFS is predicted by their socioecology, reproductive history, maternal condition, and husband's IFS. Hypotheses 2 and 3 are supported. Couples residing near town have smaller IFS (women = 3.75 ± 1.64; men = 3.87 ± 2.64) and less variance in IFS. However, the degree fertility exceeds IFS is inversely correlated with distance to town (Partial r = -0.189, df = 156, P = 0.018). Women living near town have greater maternal condition but 64% value traditional skills over formal schooling and 88% believe living in town is unfeasible. CONCLUSIONS While reduced IFS is evident with socioeconomic development, fertility decline may not immediately follow. When perceived benefits of investment in novel forms of embodied capital are low, and somatic wealth and large kin networks persist as important components of fitness, fertility may remain high and increase if maternal condition improves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa McAllister
- Department of Anthropology, Integrative Anthropological Sciences Program, University of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
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