Development of adiposity among Ju/’Hoansi Hunter‐Gatherers

Abstract

Objectives To characterize the development of childhood adiposity among the Ju’/Hoansi, a well‐known hunter‐gather group, to compare our results to U.S. references and to recently published results from Savanna Pume’ foragers of Venezuela, with the goal of expanding our understanding of adipose development among human hunter‐gatherers. Methods Triceps, subscapular, and abdominal skinfolds, along with height and weight from ~120 Ju’/Hoansi girls and ~103 boys, ages 0 to 24 years, collected in 1967–1969 were analyzed using best‐fit polynomial models and penalized spines to characterize age‐specific patterns of adiposity and their relationship to changes in height and weight. Results Overall, Ju/’Hoansi boys and girls exhibit small skinfolds with a decline in adiposity from 3 to 10 years, with no consistent differences among the three skinfolds. Increases in adiposity during adolescence precede peak height and weight velocities. Adiposity declines during young adulthood for girls and remains largely constant for boys. Discussion Compared to U.S. standards, the Ju/’Hoansi show a strikingly different pattern of adipose development, including the lack of an adiposity rebound at the onset of middle childhood, and clear increases in adiposity only at adolescence. These findings are consistent with published results from the Savanna Pumé hunter‐gatherers of Venezuela, a group with a very different selective history, suggesting that the adiposity rebound does not characterize hunter‐gathering populations more generally. Similar analyses in other subsistence populations are called for to confirm our results, and help distinguish the impact of specific environmental and dietary factors on adipose development.

Changes in weight status among “Ju/’hoansi” San hunter‐gatherers between 1968/69 and 1987—The effects of nutritional transition, sex and age

“…Other studies, however, reported negative effects of marked lifestyle changes the “Ju/’hoansi” San people experienced since the 1970s (Fernandes‐Costa et al, 1984; Heim & Paksi, 2019; Kent & Dunn, 1996; Kirchengast, 1998; Wilmsen, 1982). Recently, changes in nutritional habits and food choices (Heim & Pyhälä, 2020) and the development of childhood adiposity (Campbell et al, 2023) were reported.…”