Economic and demographic predictors of dietary variation and nutritional indicators in Nicaragua

Cooper, Catherine G.; Burns, Jane; Koster, Jeremy; Perri, Angela R.; Richards, Michael P.

doi:10.1002/ajhb.23125

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Virtually all Mayangna and Miskito households maintain agricultural plots, and local food production strategies also include hunting and fishing (Cooper et al, 2018). Individuals acquire material wealth via diverse economic strategies, including artisanal gold panning, short-term wage labor, and mercantilism (Koster et al, 2013).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Does Wealth Predict Health Among Dogs in a Protected Area?

et al. 2021

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As the world's most ubiquitous carnivore, domestic dogs maintain unique proximity to human populations. Partly because dogs potentially serve as hosts of zoonotic diseases, determinants of canine health are increasingly the focus of interdisciplinary research. Emerging perspectives suggest that dogs' health may vary as a function of their owners' wealth and financial resources, a correlation that could potentially inform public health programs and conservation efforts. The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between household wealth and the health of domestic dogs (n = 208) among indigenous Mayangna communities in the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, Nicaragua. The dogs were evaluated using serum biochemistry, complete blood count, and physical exam findings. Using these data, a principal components analysis (PCA) determined the presence of four "syndromes": 1) decreased body condition score (BCS) & hypoalbuminemia; 2) lymphocytosis & eosinophilia; 3) segmented neutrophilia; and 4) lymphadenopathy, tick infestation, & hyperglobulinemia. An inventory of possessions indexed household wealth. For all four syndromes, household wealth was a weak and uninformative predictor of the dogs' health. The few differences seen among dogs from households with different degrees of wealth likely reflect that nearly all dogs had marginal health and all households were relatively poor. Results from this study imply that owners' wealth may have diverse effects on canine health in rural settings.

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Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Does Wealth Predict Health Among Dogs in a Protected Area?

et al. 2021

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“…The reserve is characterized by a tropical rain forest biome and harbors a diverse flora and fauna (38)(39)(40). The Mayangna and Miskito, who compose the country's most predominant indigenous groups, rely on subsistence practices such as swidden horticulture for most of their nutritional needs (41,42). Cultivated crops include rice, beans, manioc, and bananas.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Fur Color and Nutritional Status Predict Hair Cortisol Concentrations of Dogs in Nicaragua

et al. 2020

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This study examined the relationships between hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) and sex, age, nutritional status (as determined by body condition scores, or BCS), and body mass (geometric mean calculated from morphometric measurements), as well as the potential influence of hair pigmentation (light, dark, or agouti/mixed) on HCC in dogs of the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve, Nicaragua. The dogs examined in this study live in a marginal environment where disease, malnutrition, and mortality rates are high. For fur color, HCC was significantly higher in light fur than in than dark and mixed fur (p < 0.001). In addition, BCS scores were found to have a negative effect on HCC (p < 0.001). Measures of sex and body size exhibited inconclusive effects on HCC, and when compared to adult dogs, juvenile dogs did not exhibit significantly different HCC. Repeated measures of dogs over time reveal a moderate intra-class correlation, suggesting that there are unmeasured sources of individual-level heterogeneity. These findings imply a need to account for fur color in studies of HCC in dogs, and the study suggests an overlooked relationship between cortisol and body condition scores in undernourished dogs in diverse settings.

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“…There is evidence that wealthier households consume healthier diets than those of poorer households, as children in wealthier households exhibit higher height-for-age and weight-for-age measurements (Winking and Koster 2015). Wealthier households are also more likely to purchase locally harvested meats and processed foods that are imported from outside the reserve, such as cookies, crackers, soup mixes, canned sardines, powdered drink mixes, and carbonated soft drinks (Cooper et al 2018). Despite considerable household-level heterogeneity in wealth and hunting productivity, food sharing between families reduces some of the variation in diets across families (Koster 2011).…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary variation among indigenous Nicaraguan horticulturalists and their dogs: An ethnoarchaeological application of the Canine Surrogacy Approach

Perri

Koster

Otárola‐Castillo

et al. 2019

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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Dietary reconstruction via stable isotope analysis is an important part of the study of past populations, but can raise issues in many parts of the world where human remains are scarce, absent, or restricted due to ethical concerns. Given these issues, some researchers have used domesticated dogs as human dietary proxies via the Canine Surrogacy Approach (CSA). We performed carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis on the hair of 304 humans and 57 dogs from 45 households in two contemporary indigenous communities in Nicaragua's Bosawas Biosphere Reserve to explore whether dogs function as dietary proxies for their human owners in this Neotropical horticulturalist context. While CSA is broadly viable at these study sites, on a more precise scale the diets of dogs do not reflect the diets of their owners. This raises questions about the applicability of CSA to archaeological contexts, suggesting that relying on dogs as dietary proxies may overlook key variation in past human diets.

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Economic and demographic predictors of dietary variation and nutritional indicators in Nicaragua

Abstract: These results indicate that, although there is a relationship between diet (δ C and δ N) and socioeconomic variables, these dietary differences are not the main cause of health differences in this population.

Cited by 5 publications

References 54 publications

Does Wealth Predict Health Among Dogs in a Protected Area?

Does Wealth Predict Health Among Dogs in a Protected Area?

Fur Color and Nutritional Status Predict Hair Cortisol Concentrations of Dogs in Nicaragua

Dietary variation among indigenous Nicaraguan horticulturalists and their dogs: An ethnoarchaeological application of the Canine Surrogacy Approach

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