More Like this

1. Socioeconomic impacts on Andean adolescents’ growth

   https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoac033  

   Burris, Mecca E. ; Caceres, Esperanza ; Chester, Emily M. ; Hicks, Kathryn A. ; McDade, Thomas W. ; Sikkink, Lynn ; Spielvogel, Hilde ; Thornburg, Jonathan ; Vitzthum, Virginia J. ( August 2022 , Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health)

   We evaluated potential socioeconomic contributors to variation in Andean adolescents’ growth between households within a peri-urban community undergoing rapid demographic and economic change, between different community types (rural, peri-urban, urban) and over time. Because growth monitoring is widely used for assessing community needs and progress, we compared the prevalences of stunting, underweight, and overweight estimated by three different growth references.

   Anthropometrics of 101 El Alto, Bolivia, adolescents (Alteños), 11.0–14.9 years old in 2003, were compared between households (economic status assessed by parental occupations); to one urban and two rural samples collected in 1983/1998/1977, respectively; and to the WHO growth reference, a representative sample of Bolivian children (MESA), and a region-wide sample of high-altitude Peruvian children (Puno).

   Female Alteños’ growth was positively associated with household and maternal income indices. Alteños’ height averaged ∼0.8SD/∼0.6SD/∼2SDs greater than adolescents’ height in urban and rural communities measured in 1983/1998/1977, respectively. Overweight prevalence was comparable to the WHO, and lower than MESA and Puno, references. Stunting was 8.5/2.5/0.5 times WHO/MESA/Puno samples, respectively.

   Both peri-urban conditions and temporal trends contributed to gains in Alteños’ growth. Rural out-migration can alleviate migrants’ poverty, partly because of more diverse economic options in urbanized communities, especially for women. Nonetheless, Alteños averaged below WHO and MESA height and weight medians. Evolved biological adaptations to environmental challenges, and the consequent variability in growth trajectories, favor using multiple growth references. Growth monitoring should be informed by community- and household-level studies to detect and understand local factors causing or alleviating health disparities.

    

   more » « less
2. Remote-Region Interior Alaska Community Survey with Two Statistical Measures: Arctic Indigenous Entrepreneurial Readiness (ER); and Remote-Region Digital Technology Needs and Skills (DT).

   https://doi.org/10.18739/A20R9M54S  

   Pasch, Timothy ; Kuhlke, Olaf ; Linton, Renee ( January 2021 , Arctic Data Center)

   Between 2018 and 2021 PIs for National Science Foundation Awards # 1758781 and 1758814 EAGER: Collaborative Research: Developing and Testing an Incubator for Digital Entrepreneurship in Remote Communities, in partnership with the Tanana Chiefs Conference, the traditional tribal consortium of the 42 villages of Interior Alaska, jointly developed and conducted large-scale digital and in-person surveys of multiple Alaskan interior communities. The survey was distributed via a combination of in-person paper surveys, digital surveys, social media links, verbal in-person interviews and telephone-based responses. Analysis of this measure using SAS demonstrated the statistically significant need for enhanced digital infrastructure and reworked digital entrepreneurial and technological education in the Tanana Chiefs Conference region. 1. Two statistical measures were created during this research: Entrepreneurial Readiness (ER) and Digital Technology needs and skills (DT), both of which showed high measures of internal consistency (.89, .81). 2. The measures revealed entrepreneurial readiness challenges and evidence of specific addressable barriers that are currently preventing (serving as hindrances) to regional digital economic activity. The survey data showed statistically significant correlation with the mixed-methodological in-person focus groups and interview research conducted by the PIs and TCC collaborators in Hughes and Huslia, AK, which further corroborated stated barriers to entrepreneurship development in the region. 3. Data generated by the survey and fieldwork is maintained by the Tanana Chiefs Conference under data sovereignty agreements. The survey and focus group data contains aggregated statistical/empirical data as well as qualitative/subjective detail that runs the risk of becoming personally identifiable especially due to (but not limited to) to concerns with exceedingly small Arctic community population sizes. 4. This metadata is being provided in order to serve as a record of the data collection and analysis conducted, and also to share some high-level findings that, while revealing no personal information, may be helpful for policymaking, regional planning and efforts towards educational curricular development and infrastructural investment. The sample demographics consist of 272 women, 79 men, and 4 with gender not indicated as a response. Barriers to Entrepreneurial Readiness were a component of the measure. Lack of education is the #1 barrier, followed closely by lack of access to childcare. Among women who participated in the survey measure, 30% with 2 or more children report lack of childcare to be a significant barrier to entrepreneurial and small business activity. For entrepreneurial readiness and digital economy, the scales perform well from a psychometric standpoint. The summary scores are roughly normally distributed. Cronbach’s alphas are greater than 0.80 for both. They are moderately correlated with each other (r = 0.48, p < .0001). Men and women do not differ significantly on either measure. Education is significantly related to the digital economy measure. The detail provided in the survey related to educational needs enabled optimized development of the Incubator for Digital Entrepreneurship in Remote Communities. Enhanced digital entrepreneurship training with clear cultural linkages to traditions and community needs, along with additional childcare opportunities are two among several specific recommendations provided to the TCC. The project PIs are working closely with the TCC administration and community members related to elements of culturally-aligned curricular development that respects data tribal sovereignty, local data management protocols, data anonymity and adherence to human subjects (IRB) protocols. While the survey data is currently embargoed and unable to be submitted publicly for reasons of anonymity, the project PIs are working with the NSF Arctic Data Center towards determining pathways for sharing personally-protected data with the larger scientific community. These approaches may consist of aggregating and digitally anonymizing sensitive data in ways that cannot be de-aggregated and that meet agency and scientific community needs (while also fully respecting and protecting participants’ rights and personal privacy). At present the data sensitivity protocols are not yet adapted to TCC requirements and the datasets will remain in their care. 

   more » « less
3. Dairy Livestock Interventions for Food Security in Uganda: What are the Implications for Women's Empowerment?*

   https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12332  

   Bain, Carmen ; Ransom, Elizabeth ; Halimatusa’diyah, Iim ( May 2020 , Rural Sociology)

   Women are increasingly the target of agricultural development programs aimed at reducing poverty and food insecurity, especially in sub‐Saharan Africa. Some feminist scholars argue that such efforts are driven more by concerns about the efficient use of resources than the rights of women and do little to transform gendered power relations. We examine how development interventions that target women affect household well‐being, especially food insecurity, empower women, and transform gendered power relations. Our study uses the case of the Gates Foundation funded East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) program in Uganda. Our methods include the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index survey and in‐depth interviews of women farmers and key informants, within the EADD program. We argue that the livestock sector provides critical insights into women's empowerment because livestock are not “socially neutral” in their gendered effects. Our study found that: (1) ownership of dairy cows enhanced important dimensions of women's empowerment and gender equity that benefited women and households; (2) women's labor responsibilities for dairy cows disempowered some women by increasing their time poverty and; (3) ownership of dairy cows provided a means for women to disrupt entrenched social norms related to gender roles within the household and agriculture.

    

   more » « less
4. Sub-optimal household water access is associated with greater risk of intimate partner violence against women: evidence from Nepal

   https://doi.org/10.2166/wh.2020.024  

   Choudhary, Neetu ; Brewis, Alexandra ; Wutich, Amber ; Udas, Pranita Bhushan ( May 2020 , Journal of Water and Health)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Household water management is often women's responsibility, as related to the gendered nature of household roles. Ethnographic data suggest that household water insecurity could increase women's exposure to emotional and physical forms of intimate partner violence (IPV), as punishments for failures to complete socially expected household tasks that rely on water (like cooking and cleaning) and the generally elevated emotional state of household members dealing with resource scarcity. Here, we test the associations between sub-optimal household water access and women's exposure to IPV, using the nationally-representative data from Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2016. Drawing upon the intra-household bargaining model as the theoretical framework, we run instrumental variable probit regression, to test the association between household water access and prevalence of IPV against women. After controlling for other known covariates of IPV such as women's empowerment and education, the findings substantiate that worse household water access consistently elevates women's exposures to all forms of IPV. This suggests that improvements in household water access may have additional ramifications for reducing women's risk of IPV, beyond currently recognized socioeconomic benefits. While both household water access and IPV have known health consequences, linking them provides another pathway through which water could affect women's health. 

   more » « less
5. Hydration in relation to water insecurity, heat index, and lactation status in two small‐scale populations in hot‐humid and hot‐arid environments

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23447  

   Bethancourt, Hilary J. ; Swanson, Zane S. ; Nzunza, Rosemary ; Huanca, Tomas ; Conde, Esther ; Kenney, W. Larry ; Young, Sera L. ; Ndiema, Emmanuel ; Braun, David ; Pontzer, Herman ; et al ( June 2020 , American Journal of Human Biology)

   This study compared the prevalence of concentrated urine (urine specific gravity ≥1.021), an indicator of hypohydration, across Tsimane' hunter‐forager‐horticulturalists living in hot‐humid lowland Bolivia and Daasanach agropastoralists living in hot‐arid Northern Kenya. It tested the hypotheses that household water and food insecurity would be associated with higher odds of hypohydration.

   This study collected spot urine samples and corresponding weather data along with data on household water and food insecurity, demographics, and health characteristics among 266 Tsimane' households (N = 224 men, 235 women, 219 children) and 136 Daasanach households (N = 107 men, 120 women, 102 children).

   The prevalence of hypohydration among Tsimane' men (50.0%) and women (54.0%) was substantially higher (P < .001) than for Daasanach men (15.9%) and women (17.5%); the prevalence of hypohydration among Tsimane' (37.0%) and Daasanach (31.4%) children was not significantly different (P= .33). Multiple logistic regression models suggested positive but not statistically significant trends between household water insecurity and odds of hypohydration within populations, yet some significant joint effects of water and food insecurity were observed. Heat index (2°C) was associated with a 23% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09‐1.40,P= .001), 34% (95% CI: 1.18‐1.53,P < .0005), and 23% (95% CI: 1.04‐1.44,P= .01) higher odds of hypohydration among Tsimane' men, women, and children, respectively, and a 48% (95% CI: 1.02‐2.15,P= .04) increase in the odds among Daasanach women. Lactation status was also associated with hypohydration among Tsimane' women (odds ratio = 3.35, 95% CI: 1.62‐6.95,P= .001).

   These results suggest that heat stress and reproductive status may have a greater impact on hydration status than water insecurity across diverse ecological contexts.

    

   more » « less