The relationship of energy intake and expenditure to body fatness in Western Samoan men

Embedded Narratives: Metabolic Disorders and Pentecostal Conversion in Samoa

Drawing from interviews and participant observation, this article explores the intersection of diagnosis of metabolic disorders and religious conversion among Pentecostal Christians in Samoa by analyzing what I call embedded narratives--conversion narratives embedded in illness narratives. Drawing from ethnographic data, I examine how using conversion narrative conventions enabled those living with metabolic disorders to narrate behavior change in a culturally and socially valorized way. By embedding their narratives, I suggest those living with metabolic disorders shifted the object of care from a disease process toward the creation of a religious life and in turn transformed the risks associated with metabolic disorders, including diet, exercise, and pharmaceutical use into moral risks associated with everyday religious life. In these cases, Pentecostal conversion created possible scripts for changing health practices, managing stress, and shifting resource use in the name of religious commitment, providing insights into how self-care can be an expression of religious practice.

Ecogeographical associations between climate and human body composition: analyses based on anthropometry and skinfolds

In the 19th century, two "ecogeographical rules" were proposed hypothesizing associations of climate with mammalian body size and proportions. Data on human body weight and relative leg length support these rules; however, it is unknown whether such associations are attributable to lean tissue (the heat-producing component) or fat (energy stores). Data on weight, height, and two skinfold thickness were obtained from the literature for 137 nonindustrialized populations, providing 145 male and 115 female individual samples. A variety of indices of adiposity and lean mass were analyzed. Preliminary analyses indicated secular increases in skinfolds in men but not women, and associations of age and height with lean mass in both sexes. Decreasing annual temperature was associated with increasing body mass index (BMI), and increasing triceps but not subscapular skinfold. After adjusting for skinfolds, decreasing temperature remained associated with increasing BMI. These results indicate that colder environments favor both greater peripheral energy stores, and greater lean mass. Contrasting results for triceps and subscapular skinfolds might be due to adaptive strategies either constraining central adiposity in cold environments to reduce cardiovascular risk, or favoring central adiposity in warmer environments to maintain energetic support of the immune system. Polynesian populations were analyzed separately and contradicted all of the climate trends, indicating support for the hypothesis that they are cold-adapted despite occupying a tropical region. It is unclear whether such associations emerge through natural selection or through trans-generational and life-course plasticity. These findings nevertheless aid understanding of the wide variability in human physique and adiposity.

Farming and adiposity in Samoan adults

Samoans are experiencing some of the highest prevalences of obesity and associated health conditions in the world. Sustainable interventions are needed to prevent further increases in obesity. This study describes the cross-sectional association between farm work and adiposity among 754 adults residing in American Samoa in 2002 and 957 adults residing in Samoa in 2003. Adiposity was measured by body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (% BF), based on bioelectrical impedance. Regression models adjusted for the effects of age, education, occupation (in women), and material lifestyle (MLS), and the clustering within households due to the family design of the parent study. After controlling for these variables, participation in farm work was associated with a significantly lower BMI and % BF in men of all ages residing in American Samoa, women >or=45 years residing in American Samoa, and women 18-44 years residing in Samoa, and a significantly lower BMI in men 18-44 years residing in Samoa. These results suggest that farm work plays an important role in regulating body size and fatness of adult Samoans and may be ideal for interventions in the Samoan archipelago.