Early childhood growth of Chachi Amerindians and Afro-Ecuadorians in Northwest Ecuador

Abstract

This study compares the growth of Chachi Amerindian and Afro‐Ecuadorian children living in the tropical forest of northwest Ecuador. Measurements of height and weight were taken on 148 Chachi and 148 Afro‐Ecuadorian children under 5 years of age. Triceps and subscapular skinfolds, arm circumference, chest circumference, and sitting height were measured on a subsample of children. Socioeconomic information was collected from the households of 145 children, and a general socioeconomic index was derived. Afro‐Ecuadorian children are substantially taller than Chachi children, with significant differences in height for age z‐scores in most age groups. On the other hand, Chachi children tend to have greater weight for height z‐scores, with significant differences in some age groups. The greater weight for height of Chachi children may be related to their larger trunks. Estimates of body composition suggest that Afro‐Ecuadorian children may have somewhat better nutritional status than Chachi children, but this does not appear to fully account for the greater height of Afro‐Ecuadorian children. The socioeconomic index is positively correlated with all anthropometric dimensions, but even after controlling for the socioeconomic index, Afro‐Ecuadorian children are significantly taller than Chachi children. These findings raise the possibility of genetic differences in growth potential between the two groups. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Somatic comparisons at four ages of South Korean females and females of other Asian groups

“…This recommendation was based on studies showing that there are no large differences in the growth of healthy, well-nourished young children of different ethnic groups. Questions have been raised concerning the appropriateness of these reference data for children of all ethnic groups, especially for children of Asian ancestry (Eveleth and Tanner, 1990;Ulijaszek, 1994;Stinson, 1996). Since the U.S. reference data are heavily weighted with children of European ancestry, their use with children of Asian ancestry may not be very informative.…”

Heterogeneous effects of market integration on sub-adult body size and nutritional status among the Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador

“…Mixed effects models including a random household term were initially created for this purpose. However, these analyses were hindered by generally insufficient numbers of repeats per household, and, as such, the decision was made to follow numerous other studies among Amazonians by using simpler multiple regression models for all final analyses (e.g., Benefice et al, 2007; Ferreira et al, 2012; Piperata et al, 2011; Stinson, 1996). Age-, year-, and household size-adjusted Spearman partial correlation coefficients were calculated from all significant final models to ascertain the degree of association between MI variables and anthropometric measures.…”

Physical growth of five to ten year old Xavante indian children in Mato Grosso

“…Não obstante, apesar do reduzido número, emerge das pesquisas antropométricas já realizadas um perfil relativamente consistente, em que se observam elevadíssimas freqüências de baixa estatura para idade, por vezes superiores a 50%, combinadas com a manutenção da proporcionalidade corporal 7,8,[10][11][12][13] . Holmes 12 , ainda que reconhecendo a ocorrên-cia de condições ambientais adversas, argumenta que o pequeno tamanho corporal, em estatura e peso, das crianças yanomamis está em parte relacionado a um potencial gené-tico diferenciado para crescimento físico.…”

“…Não raro, os déficits estaturais chegam à ordem de 50 a 60%. Padrão similar tem sido observado por pesquisadores que conduziram investigações antropométricas em populações indíge-nas em outras partes da América do Sul [10][11][12][13] . Tal constatação resulta de comparações dos dados indígenas com as curvas de referência preconizadas pela Organização Mundial da Saúde, quais sejam, aquelas de crianças norteamericanas compiladas pelo National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) 14 .…”

“…Contudo, mesmo diante de tais circunstâncias, do ponto de vista da avaliação do estado nutricional, a literatura sobre o tema traz à tona uma questão fundamental: os níveis de desnutrição em crianças indígenas são de fato elevados ou as curvas do NCHS não seriam as mais apropriadas para as populações indígenas? 6,11,12 Em outras palavras, está em jogo discernir e hierarquizar a contribuição de fatores genéticos e ambientais relacionados aos padrões de crescimento físico das crianças indígenas.…”