Sibling effects on nutritional status: Intersections of cooperation and competition across development

Abstract

Closely aged siblings do not always represent competitors. In this ecocultural context, those aged ≥5 years old appear to cooperate to improve their siblings' nutritional status. By evaluating the effects of siblings during specific risk periods, we offer a strategy to untangle the intersections of cooperation and competition. Our results add to the growing body of evidence showing benefits to allocare and further demonstrate that even children target their assistance toward vulnerable periods in development.

DHEAS patterning across childhood in three sub‐Saharan populations: Associations with age, sex, ethnicity, and cortisol

“…Additional diseases known to be problematic include bronchitis, sexually‐transmitted diseases, and high blood pressure (Hewlett, ). Helfrecht and Meehan () found that fully one‐third of Ngandu children had weight‐for‐age (33.04%) and height‐for‐age (34.51%) z ‐scores 2 SD below CDC reference means, indicating that nutritional stress is relatively high in this population.…”

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

“…Standardized anthropometric measurements are a common way to track the health and nutrition of children and adolescents. Standardized height‐for‐age (HAZ) and weight‐for‐age (WAZ) z ‐scores calculated using means from international growth charts (WHO or CDC) reveal the growth of individual children against reference populations (Helfrecht & Meehan, ). These standardized scores are the basis for characterizing child health and determining if children are failing to thrive (Kramer, Veile, & Otárola‐Castillo, ).…”

“…These standardized scores are the basis for characterizing child health and determining if children are failing to thrive (Kramer, Veile, & Otárola‐Castillo, ). Across different populations, variation in these anthropometric measures have been linked to sex (Christiaensen & Alderman, ; Sakisaka et al, ), age (Helfrecht & Meehan, ; Kramer et al, ), education (Cochrane, Leslie, & O'Hara, ), and wealth (Barros et al, ; Godoy et al, ).…”

“…One factor in health variation among children of different ages is household size. Overall, larger households with few productive adults may experience greater stress given the anticipated limits on available resources (Hagen et al, ; Helfrecht & Meehan, ). Access to resources can also depend on birth order and age, as that can influence when children are weaned, and when they are expected to begin contributing labor to household production (Helfrecht & Meehan, ; Kramer et al, ).…”

“…Overall, larger households with few productive adults may experience greater stress given the anticipated limits on available resources (Hagen et al, ; Helfrecht & Meehan, ). Access to resources can also depend on birth order and age, as that can influence when children are weaned, and when they are expected to begin contributing labor to household production (Helfrecht & Meehan, ; Kramer et al, ). A number of studies have found that the presence of younger siblings can be detrimental to a child's growth, while the impact of older siblings is negligible (Helfrecht & Meehan, ; Kramer et al, ).…”