Seasonal variation in the growth rate of weight in African babies, aged 0 to 4 years

Pagezy, Hélène; Hauspie, Roland

doi:10.1080/03670244.1985.9990912

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Studies of diet and body composition have shown that food intake is reduced during late dry and very early rainy seasons in pastoralists and that this results in body weight losses that probably reduce working capacity (Galvin, 1985;Hilderbrand, 1985;Loutan and Lamotte, 1984;Nestel, 1985). Evidence is beginning to accumulate, also, that children's growth patterns are disrupted by seasonal hunger (Galvin and Little, nd;Pagezy and Hauspie, 1985;Thomson, 1970), although per-manent effects are not completely known, particularly in pastoralists. One of the most intriguing questions concerns the forms of adaptation to limited food supply (Grande, 1964).…”

Section: Seasonal Hunger and Its Health Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human biology of African pastoralists

Little

1989

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

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Pastoralism in Africa is a subsistence tradition that has a long and complex history. During the course of several thousand years of nomadic and semi-nomadic herding practices, pastoral populations have successfully exploited African savannas and rangelands by maintaining highly mobile and low-density human populations and by maintaining symbiotic relationships between the people and their livestock. This review will cover the pastoralists' adaptations to their environments and the measures of health and adaptability of pastoralists within a biobehavioral framework. The measures that are considered are: diet and nutrition; infant, child, and adolescent growth; adult size and body composition; activity and physical fitness; reproduction; and disease. Several integrated issues (seasonal hunger, drought, sedentarization) are discussed as important areas for current and continued research. Monod, 1975; Weissleder, 1978). These population numbers, however, are declining because pastoralists' vast territories are dwindling as the result of expanding non-pastoral populations, ranching schemes, and attempts by national governments to sedentarize or settle the nomad. As pastoral populations decline and disappear, we will lose a significant amount of the cultural and biological diversity that enriches our species. The purpose of this review is to document some of the known biobehavioral diversity of existing pastoral populations while these populations still retain some of their traditional culture and subsistence. At the same time this will be done within the context of several major problems that pastoralists face in maintaining this pattern of subsistence. AFRICAN PASTORALISTS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTTropical savanna ecosystems and grazing lands Throughout the world, pastoralists are distributed across lands in which a large proportion of the plant community is constituted of grasses, forbs, and shrubs. In the tropics, these grazing lands are identified as savanna. Situated between the moist, tropical forest and the arid and semi-arid desert zone, savanna lands cover as much as one quarter of the world's surface. Compared with other biomes, savanna lands have a pattern of plant productivity in which most of the biomass is available to fauna at higher trophic levels. Hence, savanna lands are often occupied by large populations of grazing and browsing mammals.

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Section: Seasonal Hunger and Its Health Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human biology of African pastoralists

Little

1989

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

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“…In many regions inhabited by agriculturalists, the rainy season is accompanied by food shortages, increased labor demands, and a high prevalence of gastrointestinal infection. Consequently, this period is associated with both weight loss in adults and reduced body mass and growth in children (Chen et al, 1979;Trowbridge and Newton, 1979;Billewicz and Mc-Gregor, 1982;Brown ct al., 1982;Pagezy and Hauspie, 1985;Huss-Ashmore and Goodman, 1988;Cole, 1993). Conversely, in arid or semiarid savannah regions exploited by pastoralists, the critical period in terms of adult and child nutritional status is most frequently the dry season, characterized by reduced milk production, high temperatures and aridity, and increased energy expenditure associated with pasturing and watering herd animals (Loutan and Lamotte, 1984;Galvin, 1985;Hilderbrand, 1985;Lindtjorn et al, 1993).…”

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confidence: 99%

Impact of seasonal variation in food availability and disease stress on the health status of nomadic Turkana children: A longitudinal analysis of morbidity, immunity, and nutritional status

Shell‐Duncan

1995

American J Hum Biol

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The possible influence of seasonal variations in rainfall, resource availability, and morbidity on immune function and nutritional status was examined in a longitudinal study of 54 nomadic Turkana children, 6 months to 10 years of age. The highly seasonal nature of rainfall in the arid semidesert environment of the Turkana District, northwestern Kenya, was associated with varying levels of animal milk production and meat and blood consumption. Despite significant seasonal variation in rainfall and food availability, the nutritional status of Turkana children, assessed through various anthropometric indicators, showed only moderate, if any, decline in the dry season. Rather, the data indicated that Turkana Children suffer from chronic mild-to-moderate malnutrition. In addition, analyses of cellular immunocompetence of the children, recognized to be a functional index of nutritional status, revealed extremely high levels of immunosuppression Year-round. Significant monthly variation in the levels of acute respiratory and gastrointestinal infections among children were found, although averages across seasons were not significantly different and did not correspond with fluctuations in rainfall or resources availability. Instead, periodic spikes in the prevalence of morbidity occurred against an already high level of infectious endemicity. The results indicate that food availability is not likely to be the sole determinant of nutritional status and that infection may be an important contribtor to the high levels of nutritional and immunological stress among nomadic Turkana Children. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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“…Ainsi, au bord du lac, les villages n'ont pas accès aux mêmes ressources que ceux de forêt inondée, proches ou non de territoires de chasse 9 . Aussi, une spécialisation se manifeste non seulement entre les castes, mais également entre familles au sein de chaque caste, en relation avec des choix qui leur sont propres et qui seront transmis (Pagezy 1985).…”

Section: Partage De L'espace Et Des Activités De Subsistance Entre Baunclassified

“…Quel que soit leur âge, les femmes sont affectées par la contrainte saisonnière pour toutes les mensurations, excepté la circonférence maigre du bras (Pagezy 1984). Quant aux enfants, leur croissance ralentit durant la mauvaise saison pour rebondir à la saison sèche suivante (Pagezy & Hauspie 1985, Pagezy 1988a).…”

Section: Parasitologie Des Selles Et Du Sangunclassified

Biodiversité et équilibre du régime alimentaire

Pagezy¹

2013

ethnoecologie

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Biodiversité et équilibre du régime alimentaire Le cas des Ntomba de la forêt inondée (Cuvette centrale, République du Congo) Biodiversity and the balance diet : the case of the Ntomba of the swamped forest (Central Basin, Congo Republic) Hélène Pagezy NOTE DE L'ÉDITEUR Hélène Pagezy (2 août 1945-3 mars 2013) était anthropologue biologiste, directeur de recherche au CNRS, et spécialisée en anthropologie de l'alimentation. Elle a conduit des recherches de terrain très approfondies en Afrique centrale, en premier lieu en République démocratique du Congo, puis en République centrafricaine et au Cameroun. Elle a abordé d'une manière novatrice et exemplaire l'étude des régimes alimentaires, prenant en compte les aspects biologiques et quantitatifs ainsi que ceux liés à la dépense énergétique, mais également les aspects sociaux et culturels impliqués dans l'alimentation. Son terrain dans la région du Lac Tumba en RDC l'a conduite à étudier les interrelations entre les agriculteurs Oto et les chasseurs-cueilleurs Twa, apportant ainsi des informations originales sur un groupe de Pygmées méconnu. Elle a aussi engagé des recherches durables sur les régimes alimentaires spécifiques des femmes enceintes et ceux du couple mère-enfant, recherche qu'elle poursuivit en RCA. Sur son terrain de RDC, elle a réalisé un film primé à plusieurs reprises « Wale Chantal », remarquable mise en scène de ce cycle de la femme primipare. Elle s'est également illustrée dans l'étude des sociétés de pêcheurs de forêt équatoriale au Cameroun puis en Guyane française. S'impliquant dans la restitution des recherches scientifiques auprès d'un public large comme auprès des communautés enquêtées, elle a récemment dirigé un gros travail collectif de recueil de dessins d'enfants dans diverses régions du monde, illustrant leur vision de la nature, travail qui s'est concrétisé d'abord par une exposition au Musée de Biodiversité et équilibre du régime alimentaire Revue d'ethnoécologie, 3 | 2013 l'Homme (2007-2008) puis un livre collectif (Pagezy et al. 2010). Hélène Pagezy avait spécialement préparé cette synthèse de son travail sur le régime alimentaire des Ntomba de RDC pour être publié dans la Revue d'ethnoécologie ; malheureusement elle n'a pas pu en relire la version définitive.

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Seasonal variation in the growth rate of weight in African babies, aged 0 to 4 years

Cited by 10 publications

References 25 publications

Human biology of African pastoralists

Human biology of African pastoralists

Impact of seasonal variation in food availability and disease stress on the health status of nomadic Turkana children: A longitudinal analysis of morbidity, immunity, and nutritional status

Biodiversité et équilibre du régime alimentaire

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