No abstract

Nutritional status of three ethnic groups living at Gavien, a rubber resettlement project in lowland Papua New Guinea, was compared with that of people living in the home areas: Grass Country (hunter-gatherers); Wosera (agriculturalists); Middle Sepik (hunter-gatherers with limited agriculture).Anthropometry of mothers (n=115) and children (n=115) was completed during wet and dry seasons. Blood samples were collected to identify anemia and malarial infection.Grass Country children in Gavien were higher in weight-for-age and weight-for-height than their home area counterparts. Wosera children at Gavien were taller than their counterparts. In contrast, Middle Sepik children showed no improvement in Gavien. Hemoglobin and hematocrit were generally lower among mothers and children in the home areas and malarial parasite rates were higher.The group that benefited most from resettlement was agriculturalists, who were crowded at home and had cultivation skills necessary for growing food and cash crops. Resettlement was less beneficial for hunter-gatherer groups unaccustomed to agriculture.

No abstract

No abstract