Suchergebnisse

Hormones, Health, and Behavior:. Socio‐Ecological and Lifespan Perspective. C. Panter‐Brick and C. M. Worthman. eds. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 290 pp.

This chapter reviews current understanding of the associations between physical activity and nutrition in children 1 to 10 years of age. In general, both undernutrition and overnutrition are accompanied by lower levels of physical activity than in controls. In children of normal nutritional status, an association between physical activity and body composition has been difficult to demonstrate. It is clear that levels of physical activity in children are responsive to the physical and social environments, as well as to a child's nutritional status. In children of normal nutritional status, the level of physical activity increases with age in young children and then decreases in early adolescence, and males tend to be more physically active than females in a given population. Although there is a perception that children are less physically active than they were in the past, trends in physical activity through time are not known.

In this article I examine the use of insects as food by Tukanoan Indians in the Northwest Amazon and discuss both the characteristics of the species exploited and their significance in the diet. Data on insect collection were obtained from harvest records and participant‐observation. Dietary intake was determined from weighed food intake records. The insects collected belonged to over 20 species. The most important in the diet were those which formed large, highly predictable aggregations: beetle larvae (genus Rhynchophorus), ants (genus Atta), termites (genus Syntermes), and caterpillars (families Noctuidae and Saturniidae). The composition of insects is similar to that of other animal foods. Their inclusion in the diet was frequent and inversely related to the consumption of fish and game. They provided up to 12% of the crude protein derived from animal foods in men's diets and 26% in women's diets during one season of the year.

Food insecurity, a significant contributor to nutritional inequality, disproportionately affects women and children in low- and middle-income countries. The magnitude of the problem has inspired research on its impacts on health, especially on nutritional status and, more recently, mental well-being. Current research is dominated by surveillance-type studies that emphasize access, one of food security's four dimensions. Findings are inconclusive regarding the association between food insecurity and women and children's nutritional status, but some evidence indicates that it is a key contributor to mental distress in women. To understand these inconsistent findings, we emphasize the need for research on the strategies that people use to cope with inadequate access to food. We contend that biocultural approaches that recognize the importance of local contexts and the role of broader political-economic factors in shaping them are well suited for addressing current knowledge gaps.

AbstractThe Nutrition Transition model posits that vegetable oils, animal source foods (ASFs) and caloric sweeteners contribute to increases in adiposity and hence body mass index. Body mass index (BMI) is increasing more rapidly among Latin American populations of low versus high socioeconomic status (SES). The objectives of this study among Costa Rican women were to: (1) compare indicators of adiposity and dietary intake by SES and (2) evaluate the relationship between intake of foods high in vegetable oils, ASFs or caloric sweeteners and body fatness. This cross-sectional study, conducted in 2014–2015, included 128 low-, middle- and high-SES non-pregnant, non-lactating women aged between 25 and 45 years with 1–4 live births. Anthropometry was used to assess BMI, body composition and body fat distribution. Dietary recalls (n= 379) were used to assess dietary intake. Percentage body fat was greater in low- versus high-SES women (31.5 ± 3.9 vs 28.2 ± 4.7%). Skinfold measurements at four sites on the upper and lower body were greater in low- versus high-SES women. Body mass index did not vary in low- versus high-SES women. Intake frequency of foods high in vegetable oils was greater in low- and middle- (1.8 and 1.8 times/day, respectively) versus high- (1.1 times/day) SES women. For individual foods, intake frequency varied significantly by SES for high-fat condiments, fried vegetables, dairy, sweetened coffee/tea and pastries and desserts. Intake frequency of Nutrition Transition food categories was not associated with percentage body fat after adjustment for energy intake. Indicators of body composition provide additional information beyond BMI that are useful in understanding SES–adiposity associations in Latin America. Approaches to understanding diet and adiposity in Latin America that focus on vegetable oils, ASFs and caloric sweeteners should consider within-country variation in the pace of the Nutrition Transition, especially when explaining variation in adiposity by SES.

Research on health involves evaluating the disparities that are systematically associated with the experience of risk, including genetic and physiological variation, environmental exposure to poor nutrition and disease, and social marginalization. This volume provides a unique perspective - a comparative approach to the analysis of health disparities and human adaptability - and specifically focuses on the pathways that lead to unequal health outcomes. From an explicitly anthropological perspective situated in the practice and theory of biosocial studies, this book combines theoretical rigor with more applied and practice-oriented approaches and critically examines infectious and chronic diseases, reproduction, and nutrition