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Precursors to overnutrition: The effects of household market food expenditures on measures of body composition among Tsimane' adults in lowland Bolivia

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  • Rosinger, Asher
  • Tanner, Susan
  • Leonard, William R.

Abstract

Nutrition transitions are characterized by shifts in diet and activity levels that lead to changes in weight and body fatness over a relatively short time. Research has linked these nutritional shifts to socio-economic factors, including wealth and income. However, few studies have examined household spending patterns on market foods among subsistence populations, which may reveal food access, choice, and indicate household nutritional environment. This paper examines the relation between household monetary expenditures on “market” foods and measures of body composition among Tsimane', a forager–horticulturalist indigenous group in the Bolivian Amazon. Economic and anthropometric surveys were conducted for adults (n = 1199) 16 years or older in 563 households in 40 Tsimane' villages in 2008. Results indicate that overweight status (19% of men and 24% of women) is more common than obesity (1% of men and 4% of women). Sixty-one percent (61%) of households reported purchasing market foods during the previous week. Multiple linear and logistic regressions suggest that men living in households in the top third of monetary expenditures on market foods had significantly higher BMI (0.69 kg/m2; p = 0.027), weight (1.80 kg; p = 0.048), percent body fat (1.06%; p = 0.025), and probability of being overweight/obese (Odds ratio = 1.83; p = 0.042) than men in households that reported not spending money on market foods in the previous week. We discuss the possibility that the division of labor may help explain the differences between men and women in this sample. This research suggests household expenditures on market foods may mediate the relation between wealth and body composition.

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  • Rosinger, Asher & Tanner, Susan & Leonard, William R., 2013. "Precursors to overnutrition: The effects of household market food expenditures on measures of body composition among Tsimane' adults in lowland Bolivia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 53-60.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:92:y:2013:i:c:p:53-60
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.05.022
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    1. Angela Garcia & Caleb Finch & Margaret Gatz & Thomas S. Kraft & Daniel Eid Rodriguez & Daniel Cummings & Mia Charifson & Kenneth Buetow & Bret A. Beheim & Hooman Allayee & Gregory Thomas & Jonathan St, 2021. "APOE4 is associated with elevated blood lipids and lower levels of innate immune biomarkers in a tropical Amerindian subsistence population," Post-Print hal-03364139, HAL.
    2. Victoria Reyes-García & Bronwen Powell & Isabel Díaz-Reviriego & Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares & Sandrine Gallois & Maximilien Gueze, 2019. "Dietary transitions among three contemporary hunter-gatherers across the tropics," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(1), pages 109-122, February.
    3. Braha, Kushtrim & Cupák, Andrej & Pokrivčák, Ján & Qineti, Artan & Rizov, Marian, 2017. "Economic analysis of the link between diet quality and health: Evidence from Kosovo," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 27(PA), pages 261-274.
    4. Leonard, William R. & Reyes-García, Victoria & Tanner, Susan & Rosinger, Asher & Schultz, Alan & Vadez, Vincent & Zhang, Rebecca & Godoy, Ricardo, 2015. "The Tsimane’ Amazonian Panel Study (TAPS): Nine years (2002–2010) of annual data available to the public," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 51-61.
    5. Godoy, Ricardo & Bauchet, Jonathan & Behrman, Jere R. & Huanca, Tomás & Leonard, William R. & Reyes-García, Victoria & Rosinger, Asher & Tanner, Susan & Undurraga, Eduardo A. & Zycherman, Ariela, 2024. "Changes in adult well-being and economic inequalities: An exploratory observational longitudinal study (2002–2010) of micro-level trends among Tsimane’, a small-scale rural society of Indigenous Peopl," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Humphries, Debbie L. & Dearden, Kirk A. & Crookston, Benjamin T. & Woldehanna, Tassew & Penny, Mary E. & Behrman, Jere R., 2017. "Household food group expenditure patterns are associated with child anthropometry at ages 5, 8 and 12 years in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 30-41.

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