Eating in the Amazon: Nutritional Status of the Riverine Populations and Possible Nudge Interventions

Abstract

The Amazon is the largest tropical forest in the world and a source of healthy food, such as fruits and fish. Surprisingly, the Amazonian riverine population present an increased prevalence (as high as 58%) of non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension and insulin resistance, even higher than that described for the urban population of the Amazon. Therefore, this work aimed to analyze the nutritional status and associated risk of the riverine population. Body mass index, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio, and neck circumference (NC) were evaluated, and risk analysis was assayed. Furthermore, data about occupation and the prevalence of consumers of the different groups of food were analyzed. All anthropometric parameters revealed high proportions of individuals at risk, WC and NC being the factors that had more high-risk women and men, respectively. Our data confirmed the characteristic profile of the riverine communities with a high number of fish consumers, but also observed different patterns probably associated to a phenomenon of nutrition transition. Based on our data, some nudge interventions that take into account the principles of behavior analysis are discussed and proposed for these populations, aiming to improve the nutritional status and avoid the long-term consequences of the results showed by this work.

Living in the Southern Hemisphere: Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components in Amazonian Riverine Populations

“…Anthropometric data (height, weight, and waist circumference) were registered without shoes, coats, jackets, caps, and any other accessory that could influence the final measurements, according to [17]. Waist circumference was measured using a non-elastic tape 2 m long, with a precision of 0.1 cm, positioned at the horizontal plane midway between the lowest ribs and the iliac crest [19].…”

“…In Amazonian riverine populations, the river is central to life, and they usually present a subsistence economy mainly based on fishing and familiar agriculture (fruits, vegetables, manioc flour, etc.) [17]. In theory, the riverine lifestyle should be relatively healthier (surrounding by nature, less stressful life, fish as the main protein of the diet, etc.)…”

From Molecules to Behavior in Long-Term Inorganic Mercury Intoxication: Unraveling Proteomic Features in Cerebellar Neurodegeneration of Rats

“…Considering the presence of IHg in fish, this becomes a serious public health problem since those who consume them, especially populations whose food bases are these items [ 7 ], are subject to prolonged exposure. Some evidence points out that commercially available predatory species of fish have significant levels of IHg, reaching mean values of 0.15 µg/g of IHg [ 6 ].…”

“…In (1), the experimental protocol of HgCl 2 long-term exposure in adult Wistar rats, followed by motor functions assessment (2) by inclined plane (A) and rotarod (B) tests and then, cerebellum collection (3); in (4), quantification of total mercury (Hg) levels by atomic absorption spectrometry; in(5), oxidative biochemistry analyses by the determination of lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels and antioxidant activity against peroxyl radicals (ACAPs); in(6), proteomic analysis by mass spectrometry with bioinformatics analysis though Cytoscape software. In(7), evaluation of cell death nature by cytotoxicity and apoptosis assays and in(8), Purkinje cell counting by bright field microscopy.…”

Contributing to Understand the Crosstalk between Brain and Periphery in Methylmercury Intoxication: Neurotoxicity and Extracellular Vesicles

“…In the latter form, it suffers bioaccumulation and biomagnification through the food chain, which represents the main route of human exposure by the ingestion of contaminated fish [ 2 ]. Human exposure to MeHg, the most toxic form of mercury, is currently high in regions such as the Amazon [ 3 , 4 ] due to the high consumption of piscivorous fish (with the highest levels of the metal [ 5 ] in the diet of traditional populations [ 6 ]).…”